@Heather Jensen Are you looking to build a house for investment or your primary residence? 

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Just not be qualified.

@Brent Kiger  Sorry, few more questions:- My residents using Buildium for years.

This means that you will probably need to pay registration and filing fees in at least 2 states if you don’t buy CA property as a CA resident.Be sure to tell your accountant that you may now need to file non-resident income tax returns in each state where you own property as well.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Currently, I own a single-family home that serves as my primary residence.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

You can buy a single family home, live in it for a year, then rent it out afterwards, and that would effectively be an investment property after you moved out, but you also got the more beneficial terms of it being a primary residence loan.You could buy a single family home and rent out bedrooms while you are living there, and that would effectively be an investment property, but again, you have the more beneficial terms of a primary residence loan.I wouldn't get caught up so much on if a property you buy is an investment immediately so much as I would focus on what your goals are and how each purchase would be step towards your goals, whether that is house hacking or just buying investment properties you don't live in. 

There's always a shortage of deals in the market, specially now.Good news is that once you gain some traction, you'll be able to buy better lists, a power dialer and even hire a VA to help you find qualified seller leads (I run a call center for Real Estate).