When I talk with the investors I work with That have used this plan they find if they are buying right in a good appreciating market with conventional financing they are able to drop the PMI after the first year.  

So, because of this a lot of the "affordable" condos you will see in DFW have financial issues and you cannot get a mortgage loan on them, and have to pay cash. or, maybe get some sort of non conventional financing that is much more expensive requiring 25%+ down. 

Our current mortgage is a 30 year conventional locked in at 2.75% and the monthly payment is roughly $1900 ($950/person). 

If it will qualify for conventional, you would be just below the 75% LTV threshold.

For other depreciation: When placing a property in service late in the year, depreciation is prorated based on the mid-month convention for residential rentals.

I bought this residence with my VA loan but realized I should have used either conventional or FHA due to the low cost of the home.

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If you use conventional lending it can be 6-12 months (12 months fannie, 6 months freddie to use the current market value).

You can acquire your first primary for 3-5% down for conventional or 3.5% FHA + upfront cost for fha specifically.

Therefore, I have a hard time committing to a house hack which contributes greatly to my problem of raising capital for a conventional mortgage with a 20%+ down payment instead of alternatives such as an FHA.