Since I am an agent in residential, I thought the pre-qualification requirement would be slightly different if have a syndication structure is in place.

Depends on your qualifications. 

Maybe some people see that could be conflict of interest - what qualifications are they using for tenant screening? 

@Dave Skow keep in mind that with an FHA loan anything 3 or 4 family also needs to qualify on a rent ratio that is hard to meet, 2 family you won’t need to meet those qualifications of a projected rent income ratio to get an FHA.

Whatever you do stick with your qualifications and remember you have them for a reason, your primary responsibility is to yourself and your family not these strangers. 

Since you plan to occupy, I don't immediately see an issue with an FHA loan (beyond income and credit qualification) though it's worth noting that in most cases you can't get rid of the mortgage insurance without refinancing out of it.You may be better off working with a lender that will do a conventional loan w/ less than 20% down with PMI, but at least the PMI will be easier to drop vs.

That doesn't mean the parties will agree to do it that way, but the opportunity does exist.Context & Qualifications: I have run 50+ creative finance transactions per month for over a year.

A property in this situation meets both sets of qualifications.  

I would like to claim the real estate investor qualification on our taxes next year.  

as a new real estate investor, I would personally suggest exploring turnkey properties. turnkey can do all of the management, tenanting, and take care of all landlord duties for you. it's a great segue in my opinion as you can learn through this experience and when you have more ability to sink time and capital into a property, then you can house hack and BRRRR. that's what i would do if i were new to REI and starting my portfolio. i think these are really good articles that can help you get started and answers your question if now is a good time to buy.https://blog.sharesfr.com/inve...https://blog.sharesfr.com/turn... it's really difficult to answer that question as there is no right or wrong time to buy. when numbers make sense for YOU that's the right time to buy. i am about to close on my 3rd investment property in the last 1.5 years in Atlanta and while i'm a landlord i don't have any of the landlord duties because i work with a turnkey company. i wont lie i was nervous about the interest rate hikes and mortgage qualifications but speaking on a very high level, it's about finding the properties that fit your criteria and that you can afford. i like to think about my properties in hindsight - if it's a good deal today then 90% of the time it'll become a great deal down the road. real estate is a long game, not for short term flips (with inventory shrinking it's getting very hard to find distressed properties you can renovate for cheap and still profit. you have to know the market, you have to know rental demand, you need quality tenants, you need to know how to refinance, etc.) if you want to chat further feel free to DM me!