In this case, you can use Rental Income from the units that you will not be living in and that income can count to help you qualify.FHA rates are going to be lower than conventional for you almost always, but FHA does have a 1.75% funding fee. 

I realize people are trying to make a living, but anyone who cold calls me is the last person I'd use for any transaction (plus I have people for that!).  

Now you see how expensive dining and living rooms are that could be converted. 

Also looking forward to meeting any local wholesalers or people living out the house hacking dream.Thank you to @Scott Trench for leaving a great how-to on introductions!

Have enough that after you buy the property you still have 6 months of expenses in reserves that you can use for daily living.

One caveat to this strategy is that you can’t live in a property that your IRA owns, nor can you rent it out to anyone else who may be considered a disqualified person like your spouse or child.Feel free to connect with me and send me a direct message if you want to learn more!

The loan is with you, not with your tenant, so none of that means anything to them - in fact because you live in one unit and it's under 4, if you were self-managing you don't even have to abide by fair housing laws (at least on the federal level). 

I agree with the others here that say you need to have some skin in the game, if you are going to live there yourself, get an FHA loan rather than owner financing, you can get a 3.5% down loan, personally I do not love these as they require  PMI which is an additional expense, and you also need  bring additional funds for closing at least for taxes, title, attorney and transfer fees . borrowing from anyone else for the down payment, to include a personal loan from the bank is not a good idea, those again will be higher int. rate.

Having a property management company seems to be a good option for me since I am living out of state.

Determine Your BudgetSet a Realistic Budget: Consider the cost of tuition, living expenses, and your financial situation.Mortgage vs.