All these have advantages/disadvantages and work well for different funding goals.If you post a little more detail on what kind of deals you're looking to fund, the community here can give you much more tailored recommendations & referrals of specific lenders.  

Any advantages or disadvantages to either?

In this situation a quit claim deed could also be OK but no advantage and possibly a disadvantage when you want to sell down the road.

Does not having a pool put you at a competitive disadvantage? 

However this does come with some restrictions; which I'll use to lead into the disadvantages of staging (or when you shouldn't stage). 

Also, I know it may depends on what my plan is (hold vs sell) but also possible advantages and disadvantages of converting it from a 4 to 5 unit.

The disadvantage of crowdsourcing I believe is that you can't leverage it.We could consider an actual real estate property, but we live in Boston where prices are insane so we'd be looking out of state.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages so the best is really going to be based on your risk tolerance for interest rate movements as well as the other items I mentioned.

A quick facts breakdown:- Property: Triplex, looking to owner occupy and rent other units- Market: downtown Chicago- Financing: Pre-approval for 3.5% down FHA available and givenI really want this deal to work out but feel as if I'm at a disadvantage using FHA financing.

Advantages and disadvantages?