Follow @johnsfinancetips for more daily finance tips! an FHA loan allows you to purchase a multi family property with a fairly low down payment, this can be as low as 3.5%. But will make this even more enticing is that using an FHA loan you can use 75% of the projected rental income from the units you are not occupying to help you further qualify for the loan. If you were to use a conventional loan, you would have to show the bank that you have history as a landlord improve to them that you can