Quote from @Dennis Knapp: I Have one double that I live in i bought as an investment just to help pay my mortgage.

FHA has a lot more paperwork, up-front PMI, plus you have monthly PMI for the duration of the mortgage.

@Mary Lopez - second on using a mortgage broker. 

That can be used to buy down the mortgage rate or reduce closing costs. 

Some old school sellers, like many in here have said, don't even want to waste time waiting for a mortgage and buyers who traditionally get cold feet right after inspection with a big loan.

Quote from @Sushil Iyer: We have a SFH and a duplex that we own free and clear, and a duplex on which we have a residential mortgage.

Generally, the builder will also own the mortgage company to recover some of what they give up in credits via the profit on the loan. 

While your value added is in the physical aspect of real estate (building SFR, developing subdivisions, etc) our emphasis is on deal structuring (loan modification, wrap mortgages, interest rate arbitration, real property consolidation, tenant repositioning, etc.). 

@Mike Sferacorrect. one small tweak, if you're buying fixer, you wouldn't typically buy with a 'mortgage.' you'd use cash or a hard money loan. 

And 2, that the property with 100k down will have a 400k mortgage and will net you 5k a year.