I thought this could be a good way to take inventory of other situations landlords experienced and make proactive updates to our leases without having to first experience the same fact pattern.

Also I would consider being a new agent in a market with no inventory and no buys will be a grind with little pay. 

Get a conventional mortgage.

-Detailed inventory and inspection of owners property (this is done for LTR also, but few LTRs are fully furnished and outfitted). 

I've always found inventory rates (and how they've moved over time ie previous 1-2 years) to be the starting point for where a market's health is at.

Can I refinance my primary residence 30yr conventional loan into an investment loan of some type and have my wife & kids live there while I live in a seperate primary residence (multifamily) to satisfy the 12m occupancy of VA loans?

We have a solid inventory of newer properties that will have low maintenance for many years.

Some investors use conventional loans, while others use private lenders, hard money loans, or partnerships.

I am using a conventional FHA loan to acquire the property.

many houses in the midwest, for example, are very old and need major rehabs.i personally think out of state investing is more difficult than advertised, and much more difficult in the current investing environment, with: prices high; interest rates high; tremendous demand for inventory, by both investors and retail buyers; and good PMs, contractors, etc. booked up.here's a really thoughtful thread with the experience of another CA investor and lots of different responses:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1215726-break...and here are some threads about how it can very easily go wrong:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1159104-overl...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1160450-run-i...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...finally, you also said you "don't have a lot of money to start with."