We've found the traditional "live in one half and rent out the other" is a little bit more difficult to accomplish these days but we've had luck pivoting to buying a single family home with an in law suite with separate access.

Thus do it as a traditional transaction whereby you get title to the property, and if there is a loan, it is a deed of trust and a promissory note.

Might be worth seeing how flexible the price is.Cypress has a newer Duplex/4plex community...the numbers won't work as a traditional rental but might make sense as a house hack.If you look further out...there's a new construction neighborhood in Sealy (Westward Pointe) with lots of incentives that I've sold a few homes in...the appraisals mostly have come in much higher than the purchase prices.

If you're able to purchase a multifamily close to the school it opens up the possibilities of using the units for traditional long-term rent, renting to students or AirBnB. 

You cannot however do traditional 1 year leases using a second home loan. 

What I would really concentrate on is analyzing the deal as a traditional long term rental without you living in the property in 1-2 years.

We follow the traditional standard CA real estate rental form - nothing fancy.

Abby,Talk to a local, traditional mortgage broker. 

You can't follow traditional metrics of tenant-friendly or landlord-friendly and think that will save you.

I understand the title insurance fee itself may be set by the state.It means that I am familiar with the nuances and requirements of investor-type deals that are not present in "traditional" retail deals.