A couple questions about the basics...

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Hello everyone! I just found your forum (today), and it appears to be a WEALTH of information. Looks like I'm going to have a lot of reading ahead of me...

Anyway, the reason I am posting here is because I have a couple questions that I'm really hoping someone can answer. I'd love to search the site and educate myself, but unfortunately (or fortunately), I've gotten myself in a situation that needs immediate attention.

Very briefly, I live in a relatively pricey housing market and have been renting for the past two years with my wife. We have saved some money over the past couple years, but due to some personal issues, we weren't able to save as much as we'd like before buying a property. So, for the sake of argument, let's just say that I don't have enough saved to dump onto a down payment or closing costs.

My question begins here: We have found a new construction property that has a two family (double) occupancy AND a single family mobile home. The existing mobile home is currently being rented and generates income each month. My wife and I are looking to purchase the property with another guy I work with. We'd split the mortgage and each live in half of the house.

The problem is that my realtor says that conventional mortgages won't work and I need to go commercial. Is this accurate? Also, it appears that there is no way out of putting money down for a down payment and closing costs. Given this situation, what is typically done to avoid this initial cash investment? Is there a way to easily finance the entire amount (+ closing costs would be nice, too)?

I apologize for the length of the post and the simpleton questions, but I'm about as noob as they get when it comes to this. Does anyone have any information/advice they can pass on?

Thanks in advance!