You want to make sure your lender:Has worked with house hackers before; the rules change depending on what loan type you use and how many units you purchase.

I think of it like websites rewarding white-hat hackers who point out vulnerabilities in their site. :)

This helps out house-hackers (like myself) a ton.

Potential first time house hacker here as well.

For 3-4 unit homes, the borrower has to qualify for the loan amount but the rent from the other units (the ones they are not living in) have to cover your PITI (principle, interest, taxes, and insurance)The problem now, is that almost NONE of the 3-4 unit properties qualify for this self sufficiency testEven properties deemed to be a "good deal" don't qualify even if the borrower canThis is making it extremely difficult for House Hackers to scale and get into larger multi family propertiesI was even working on helping a client out for a property that was an excellent deal with top market rents and the property still didnt qualifyThere are many programs out there that are helping first time buyers, grant programs, etc. but FHA really needs to give on this self sufficiency test. 

Looking to connect with Morristown, NJ house hackers. 

I’m a multi time house hacker in the IE and SD 

Some house hackers are looking to cash flow WHILE living there, and that just isnt possible for most deals.Make sure you're making offers based on fully occupied with paying tenants.FHA is also the weakest offer you can make, so I would focus on making conventional offers to increase your chances.Id be happy to review your strategy in depth, if that would be helpful.

This might open up a lot of opportunity for house hackers in these expensive markets. 

I've helped many house hackers on their first property on their way to a growing portfolio.