Typical down for investment house is 20 to 25% for an investor type loan.I do not do residential but commercial.

Typically with a comercial loan you can expect a 5 year balloon or at least a rate reset.

I invest purely based on cash flow (after initial investment, typically positive cash flow every year). 

While using an FHA loan, is it pretty typical that the first year will be a loss while focusing on the longer play?

People over and over attempt to overlay the typical PM Game on the Detroit Market is fails every time.If you want to do Detroit it has to be personal. 

mid-sized apartment building, you should be working with an experienced broker and/or attorney who should be able to advise you on what materials and {diligence} conditions should be identified in your APS.Building on what has been stated above, be sure to include the collection of estoppels from all tenants (and suppliers) and to have the clock on your diligence period start only once the Vendor has supplied the information requested of them (in the APS).Other items which we typically request as materials include: all leases and contracts; blueprints, engineering diagrams and assessments; existing environmental assessments; authorisation to pull the permit and work order / citation history on the property; finances for the past 3 years; current rent-roll along with economic vacancy (physical vacancy, concessions, evictions); list of recent CAPEx; statement of reserves (note: this should be included in the financials, but you never know).

Typically a few brokers will control the majority of the market.

If you sent it via other means (typically a third party) there's validation that it was received.  

Verify your facts; banks won’t typically sell properties during a redemption period.  

Rather that give the typical "it depends, what are your goals," I will try to provide some insight.