Rayven, gifts are not allowed for a conventional investment property loan.

The lender (per conventional guidelines) should take the net result of each rental and add or subtract that from your income.

My loan officer is telling me that the lowest amount I can put down for a 4-plex in non-FHA financing is 20% for a conventional mortgage.

My loan officer is telling me that the lowest amount I can put down for a 4-plex in non-FHA financing is 20% for a conventional mortgage.

A conventional loan is a better deal long term though, you can get 5% down. 

As a business owner, I operate at a loss to avoid taxes and am not eligible for a conventional loan. 3 My business and assets are located in CA and I pay taxes there, and I am currently located in Illinois and want to invest there.

Most conventional financing options will want a blot top lot .

Most banks will just want to see that the homes are rented out bc they can use the rental income which helps offset.As long as the homes are rented you should be able to keep buying up to 10 total conventional loans.

(About 25% increase in 2 years) At about this month next year, I will be moving to my next duty station (don't know where to yet), and was thinking of refinancing my VA loan to a conventional since I will have over 20% equity to avoid PMI and to free up my VA benefits to use where ever I'll be stationed next. 

Any well-priced home in a decent neighborhood is getting 30+ offers still and the winner is typically either cash with little to no due diligence/other contingencies or conventional financing with either no contingencies or a chunky appraisal gap.