Unfortunately, while there are other methods to acquire investment properties, the reality is you need cash and reserves to plan and set up your investment portfolio accordingly. 

i tell them all the time to find a good W2 job you like and you plan on staying with a long time. 

Refinancing isn’t an option yet because of the way we purchased it (unless someone has a bank that will look at the deal differently) our original plan was to pay off our balloon in early 2027 when it is due which the bank will treat as a purchase and then we would wait until we are able to refinance so probably 2028 and then we could pull out a good chunk of equity at that time.

Am I ok with this plan to ride up the appreciation, mortgage pay down and rising rents?

If you are not planning to live in the property, then you are not going to qualify for an FHA loan.

Sounds like I've got the plan all laid out in front of me. 

@Chris HainsI use the House Flipping Spreadsheet (https://www.houseflippingspreadsheet.com/) to do the planning, analysis and estimating prior to purchase. 

As for the areas to target, my goal in getting our feet wet as real estate investors--and since we plan to be living in Sac--is to find a property we can live in while renting out one or more units to help cover our housing expenses, which we can then hold and continue to rent out when we move.

Quote from @Jimmy Rojas: I live in Arizona and homes here are sky high, youd be lucky to get %6 interest rate, I would be a 1st time home buyer, apart from being 1099 employed would Trumps real estate plans benefit the little guys like me? 

However, anything that impacts functionality like plumbing, HVAC, or safety issues should be handled before listing to avoid turning off potential renters/buyers.If you’re re planning to lease it, tenants will expect everything to be move-in ready before signing.