If you can swing living in one of the units of your new multi it could help to lower the rate on your loan by about a point, which I highly recommend.The process is almost the same but your inspection is going to cost more and you'll have to take over the leases of the tenants already in place.

I have a home that I live in but I also collect rent from.

To put 10% down on a 3-unit you would need to live in the property as it takes 20-25% down for a non-owner occupied 3 unit.

While you can’t completely control who applies to live in your properties, you most definitely can find areas that are popular with students, young professionals, families, etc. 4) just as important as finding the property, you need to have an exit strategy in mind for the property.

If so, have you ever done a buy and hold partnership deal that includes one partner invests and the other lives in as principal residence for 2+years during renovation and manages property until sale? 

You did not say where you live?

The only problem is I live 4 hours away and the home might need a-lot of capital to fix up and I don't know if the juice will be worth the squeeze. 

They want to confirm nobody is living in the basement.

As a new real estate investor living in the crazy expensive Bay Area rental market, I'm exploring clever ways to get into investing.

The Class A home is the one I lived in and now rented out - great tenant, very low crime, excellent school district.