The markets open up if you are not planning on doing the management yourself.There are many markets that are growing in population and jobs throughout the country if you are willing to look at OOS investing. 

Don’t let that discourage you, but just know that stepping outside your comfort zone will be part of the journey from time to time.

Settlement will occur throughout the life of a structure, although in most cases it will diminish over time.

He’s done this THOUSANDS of times.  

When a rental is taken out of service for personal use the accumulated depreciation goes away over a short period of time. 

But I want to now purchase a house with the first time housing program, would I be able to?  

New builds, new developments, plenty of rentals within driving distance of the city center, and there are still plenty of areas where a good eye for a rehab job will get you a good ROI.

Make sure it would be someone you could learn from in the deal and then I would encourage you to only use a portion (probably only 50k to 100k) of your available capital in the deal.  

Never in the history of the Federal Reserve have prices gone down for any notable period of time.

Conventional financing is a great option to get started if you have a W2 job or easily verifiable income and you're financing a 1-4 unit property.