You're better off opting for an interest-only mortgage, saving on payments, and then refinancing it into something more conventional when interest rates drop—or, if possible, making a plan to pay down the principal.Interest-only loans, which typically last for the first 5 to 10 years of the loan term, offer two key benefits.

@Tobi Isaacs this would be better answered by other investors in your market. 

I currently broker LIHTC multi-family for a large firm coast to coast and am also interested in MF in the Arizona submarkets as well, and will eventually invest on that scale - I just figure breaking into the state through SFH flips may be a more risk adverse way to understand the pros and cons to phoenix submarkets.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

@Adedotun Kembi Most lenders will only lend a total of 65-75% on a rental and at much higher interest rates due to the higher risk.

Any insight into the kind of options we may have for something like this and how qualification for a small hotel differs from residential conventional loans would be extremely helpful.

If you're interested in still taking cash out of the rental to put toward the down payment, you may consider a HELOC then. 

Tie into Military out assistance program.  

Glad to be part of this network.

I'm interested in flipping, and short-term rentals at the moment to build good cash flow, then pivot into more of a buy-and-hold/appreciation play 10-15 years from now.