Limited Loan options for First property purchase?

[Jared Baker]

Hello BP,

I stopped at my local credit Union last Friday to begin the process of getting pre-approved for a loan.  During my original conversation that I had with them, there were many different products that they offered.  When I was in there on Friday they said that if I was purchasing a purely investment property, then the only loan products they offered were 3 and 5 year balloons.

I have a two part question.  The first, is will I see these same limited loan options with other lenders, or is this a case that these are the only options that my Credit Union offer?  My second question is when people post that they acquired their first property with conventional financing are they referring to a normal 30 year fixed?  Or is there a a different meaning when it comes to rental properties and "Conventional" financing?

I'm looking to get my finanicing together to purchase a single SFH or Duplex a few hours away from where I currently live, as my local prices are just stupid expensive and do not work out. This will be my first property I am looking to acquire.