Need advice on financing my first BUY and HOLD

[Kyle Gregg]

Hello everyone at BP! First time poster with big dreams of real estate investing. 

BACKGROUND:

Ive been doing research for the past 6 months and finally starting to put together a strategy to go after my niche...but first, a little about me

25 years old, full time mechanical engineer, currently renting at $1050/mo, have 35k in student loans, and 25k truck payment. credit score in the 680-700s. not much in savings but starting to save heavily. 

I have realized that i want my life to be more than a career at a desk. Ive been a hands-on person my entire life and im very motivated to use my skills in a way to make money.

So far, i have decided that i want to buy a house that is already set up for a 2-3 units. I want to live in one of the units. idealy, id like to have a mortgage that i could afford with no units rented and more than pay for the mortgage when fully rented. I have looked in my area for potential properties and i need help with figuring out the right course of action to finance my dream. i have researched the 203k and FHA loans.

There are foreclosures in my area ranging from 20k-50k needing full rehab. Also properties in the 100-150k needing upgrades.

MY QUESTIONS: 

What financial route would best suit my situation? 

What condition property would be ideal with a given loan?

How much sweat equity can be done with a given loan? i read everywhere that the 203k loans do not allow sweat equity but i want to be able to lay flooring, install cabinets, finish carpentry..etc

i have a million other questions but this is a good start. thanks for reading if you bothered to get this far in my post! 

[Rumen Mladenov]

@Kyle Gregg 

Owner financing is not easy to find. You need to be very lucky to find it on a house you like and is priced right - I have had no such luck.

It is not common to have the seller cover all closing costs, and is usually not acceptable by the lender. However asking the seller to contribute 2% towards your closing costs is both common and acceptable - for example, instead of offering $100K on the house, you offer $102K and ask for 2% seller assistance. The last few purchases I made with mortgages had this.