Where I see the builder incentives and builders hurting is in starter housing or housing for rentals that investors are buying.. everything there is interest rate driven.. with land costs fixed and building cost not coming down , interest rates rising this hurts builders who are building product for those that MUST have financing to buy and are barely able to qualify IE starters..

Since you're a U.S. citizen living abroad, non-QM (non-qualified mortgage) programs designed for foreign nationals might be an ideal solution for your situation.

. - The main question here is do you qualify as a real estate professional according to the tax code.

A DSCR product is what you are looking for.DSCR simply doesn't take into account your personal income, instead we qualify the loan on the properties rental income (or projected rental income).Your credit, properties cashflow, loan to value & prepayment penalty are going to be the main determinants on what this loan looks like for you.

The hard parts are ensuring you can have a home that can be licensed for as many residents as possible (comfortably) and finding a well qualified operator to lease it to.

The split might not be great but it might be good to start getting qualified leads.

I don't think your second idea is bad to ensure things are found and documented.I ended up qualifying for a SBA disaster loan that helped when FEMA would not do anything since my properties are under a business.  

Keep in mind with the FHA loan on 3-4 units, there is a self sufficiency test as part of the qualifying portion.

If your property qualifies for a higher amount, the housing authority will let you know what they can approve.

We find it highly unlikely that the Legislature, having demonstrated its strong commitment to the protection of tenants from unjustifiable evictions, would have intended to permit the eviction of an exemplary tenant solely for the reason that the federal government has found her qualified to participate in the Section 8 housing program pursuant to which the government pays a portion of her rent. ”)