That shouldn't necessarily be a differentiator when choosing a lender, as evidenced by the boom of the DSCR lending industry....non of which are FDIC insured.

As a rental strategy for non owner occupants, it absolutely is a fantastic way to generate the highest return, that's true.....but also, and most importantly, your screening has to be on point, and without that, it won't be as effective because one bad roommate can ruin the environment for the other roommate tenants. 

With current interest rates, and they are at least 1% higher with potentially additional points for non owner occupied property, it is hard to find properties that will allow for positive cash flow after paying the mortgage, if you are looking for money for the down payment from a private lender, those are normally at higher than market and I am not sure it would be possible to pay it off.... please remember you need to take into account that you may not have a tenant for a certain amount of time, a tenant may stop paying rent, or you will have a big ticket item to fix, so I would wait if I were you and save to have enough for the down payment and closing costs and perhaps some money set aside for repairs. you also want to make sure that you have your own emergency fund outside of the money needed for the investment property because life happens ....

The Japanese market is different in that it is a high yield cash flow market, non speculative investing.

Being a real estate professional allows you to treat the income as non-passive, allowing higher high income tax payers to pay less in taxes.

You will be required to get a foundation inspection report on top of an appraisal and you are required to pay for both.That is why I said make sure you do your research because if you pay for an appraisal or foundation inspection report and its not within guide lines you will have just wasted anywhere from $650 to $1000.00 non refundable.  

First of all, let me pay my respects to the hardworking people in real estate and the treacherous waters they navigate—fronting hours of effort with only the chance of commissions and an abundance of non-forthright people out there.

We rotate locks through our rentals, with a period of non-use for each lock.  

You are quoting old rules.New rules have a calculated period of Qualified vs Non Qualified usage. 

The wrong tenant can lead to non-payment, evictions, and property damage.