Fannie/Freddie (Conventional) loans aren't just about rate and transfer taxes. 

We walked with about $55k of tax free cash on a $147k house with $55k renovation budget.

Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) loans, which are popular for investors, may see changes that limit their accessibility.

@Emily Gowen so as you pointed out you would not have to do a 1031 exchange on your current home to avoid the capital gains tax and coupled with what Dave Foster pointed out I think, speaking from experience you would have a high likelihood of success. 

Purchase price: $28,500 Cash invested: $178,000 Sale price: $250,000 Bought a 3 unit riddled with drugs or prostitutes from the city at the tax auction, spent a year gutting and consolidating all three units in two structures to a single-family home with an exterior side entry garage.

THEN, I plan to purchase the second home using a FHA or conventional loan (3%-5% down), for which I will likely pay the monthly cost out-of-pocket, maybe with some rental income support if it is a duplex.My concern is, I do not want to spend my savings or weigh down my debt-to-income ratio so much so that I cannot qualify for and pay the down payment and closing for the lending on the second home.Questions: - With the first home being multi-family, 75% of the rental income (or potential rental income initially) will relatively either maintain or boost my debt-to-income ratio from lenders' perspectives, right? 

although we bought about 6 years ago or so for 270 put 100k into it so you can do the math  no debt .. hoa 400  we pay utls. 200 or so.. so 600 a month out of the 3500.. tax's about 1500 a year ( got to love Vegas taxs ) value today right at 600k.. so lets say we net about 33k a year on 370k cash .. so not bad little under 10% COC with an outstanding tenant one of the best I have ever had.PS given tenant quality we manage ourselves.. 

Make sure to plan for the added rental income/ordinary expenses on your tax return. 

Tax credit 45L for a 90 unit or 112 unit project? 

Definitely a question for a tax attorney/accountant, especially with the dollar amounts involved.