I'm not sure how the Tucson market is but I wasn't able to find any properties qualifying for the FHA loan program for a 4-unit property in Los Angeles because of the Self Sufficiency qualification.Now I'm looking at buying a single family home and buiding an ADU on it since there are many low downpayment, low interest loan products out there for this strategy.

I want to stay local for my first investment.LoansFHA - The low down payment is very attractive but the self-sufficiency criteria eliminates every 3-4 unit home I've seen so far within a 25 mile radius of Los Angeles. 

Personal credit is great, and my primary residence has plenty of equity, and income is sufficient for purchase of additional home.Problem: While attempting to get pre-approvals for loans, the FHA lenders are questioning that I will “down size” and move into homes of lesser value than my existing primary residence.Mortgage Brokers suggestion:“Get your primary residence rented out, then go rent a place for 6 months.

Depending on what route you want to go could take years to become self sufficient.

If a bank would give me 70% of the ARV, that would come out to 89,950 which be sufficient to correct the tax issues and then a bit additional as profit. 

You can start off with a 2-unit property and live in one and rent the other unit out.In higher cost markets it is not as easy to qualify for a 3-4 unit property as it is harder to fulfill the self sufficiency requirement (75% of rents have to cover your PITI including mortgage insurance). 

If the current owner has not filled them, it could be because there is not sufficient demand in the market. 

We run a str in Lake George and had to pay with our rates to find the sweet spot where our CoC was sufficient.

This is really more than sufficient for quite a few units. 

You will have a lot of people who want a place they can't afford, but there are just enough who do qualify, and have sufficient income, so it will be fully occupied without any problems.