First Investment - 3.5% FHA or 5% conventional?

[Kevin Huang]

I'm looking to make my first investment (3 or 4 plex) and have gotten varying advice as to which method to finance it.

Some have told me that a 5% conventional is the way to go on the first property as it will allow me to leverage the 3.5% FHA loan on the second investment that I make, whereas going for the FHA loan on the first investment makes it so I can't ever use the 5% conventional.

On the other hand, one lender has told me that even if I use the 5% conventional first, the 3.5% FHA is *effectively* no longer an option for me (I can't really recall the exact reasons he gave). He also stated that the MIP would be higher for the 5% loan when compared to the FHA.

Those of you with more experience in this area, can you help provide some clarity on the above points?  What would you recommend that I go with?