Don't consider yourself limited by guidelines at this point.

That makes sense, but I'd still be weary of using FHAs for purchases that don't meet the necessary guidelines!

The key is that you find a lender that has no overlays which means they follow fannie, freddie, FHA, VA, USDA guidelines. 

Duplexes,triplexes all fall under the same guidelines as a single family home.

This is based on fannie guidelines and they're are some other items that you would need to produce as well to qualify for delayed financing. 

@Girard Curry, I am a "buy and hold" guy so i am defiantly not a subject expert on this, but i can easily imagine that some of those "investors" who are contacting me about my rentals from CL are going to end up in prison, thanks to the new Dodd/Frank guidelines that became the law as of 2014.IMHO, a great example of this would be that some of these folks are still offering lease option with rent credit, with "in house closing" and that part is widely known now that sort of a behaviors could land you prison not just here in MD but in all states of the good old U.S. of A.ps.

With no experience or guidelines (beyond general) its hard to figure out how to understand and verify the expenses. 

It is always a major gamble to buy property without cash reserves but when you are going to get rid of the tenants immediately then it is far too much of a gamble, especially in a tenant friendly state like MA.  

@Bryan L. is somewhat correct about foreclosures being listed on the MLS due to the listing guidelines given to the broker by the banks.  

They did a study, issued guidelines for proper implementation along with stern warnings.