I'm also noob, in escrow for my first property ever, so take my limited experiences with a grain of salt:
FHA:
-low down payment that allows you to get into a home w'out a big down payment (3.5%!)
-you can only have one FHA loan at a time
-has a point included in the financing - all FHA loans have it, most people roll it into the financing as a point. If you pay it to avoid that point, you end up putting about $12-$15k down; effectively canceling out the advantage of that low down payment
-can fund up to 4 unit*** - BUT 3-4 unit homes do have a "Self Sufficiency Rental Income Eligibility" test that says that the PITI can NOT be less than 75% of the rents
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?i...
^^ read the bottom of pdf page #152 and the top of page #153 (LAST UPDATED 9/14/15)
In socal, this is ridiculous because the 3-4 plexes are $700k++ and there is no way 75% of the rents are going to be greater than the mortgage payment without a huge down payment. I was looking at a $725,000 property, and needed something like a $130,000 down payment to have it pass this test. So much for 3.5% down...
On the other hand, a sufficiency test would never work on a duplex...so, it does not apply, and you can finance up to ~$725k with that low down payment.
In summary, without a big down payment, going FHA means you can buy -
-a single family home/townhome/condo
-a duplex
