I'm itching to buy my first 2 family home/investment property but can't decided if I want to A) take out a conventional loan and cover the downpayment with a loan against my 401k or B) take out an fha loan and cover the downpayment and repairs in cash, and then look for a property that will still cashflow given the higher monthly payment required of me.

Talk to your lender about a conventional loan, and what you can do to qualify.

A few lenders won't go below 50K, conventional banks of course want you to be on the deed.

Do any other investors use online mortgage lenders or do you find a local broker and use them for all your conventional financing pursuits?  

There may also be some good inventory hiding in older areas of Fort Myers (Between McGregor and US41) and its not uncommon for some single family homes in that area to have income producing apartments or guest houses.Remember, as you are a finance buyer, you have a bit less leverage with sellers than cash buyers do, so you'll want your offers to be relatively strong in other areas (if you are asking for concessions you are likely not to get an accepted offer on an income producer).

January 2016 Houston Housing StatsHouston Real Estate Highlights in January Single-family home sales declined 2.1 percent compared to January, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline;Total property sales were unchanged at 4,965 units;Total dollar volume was statistically flat at $1.2 billion;At 262,663, the single-family home average price reached its highest level ever for a January;At $200,000, the single-family home median price also achieved a January high;Single-family homes months of inventory climbed to a 3.3-months supply versus 2.5 months a year earlier;Townhomes/condominium sales rose 15.6 percent with the average price unchanged at $183,076 and the median price up 2.4 percent to $140,000;Leases of single-family homes rose 2.8 percent with rents up 4.2 percent at $1,742;Leases of townhomes/condominiums climbed 12.2 percent with rents up fractionally to $1,568.

I am new to real estate and I was wondering if I purchase a home with Fha loan how long must I wait to convert over to a conventional loan.

It will be nice from my perspective to see the market flatten out and more inventory hit the market.

If you have a conventional 30-yr in the high 3% range, it would need to bring in about $1100 to cover all expenses here.  

Ive owned 3 homepath properties, all 3 I have/had conventional financing on them.