I like it because the rent is paid by the government.

I would hope you can pick your roommate and not have the government decide for you.

I received a government student loan (which didn't start charging interest until a year out of school at a pretty good rate that rides with prime). 

Here is the page:https://www.tsp.gov/planparticipation/loans/loanBasics.shtmlYes, you do have to be employed by the federal government

And yes, as you are finding out, the difficult part will be attracting investors when you have no experience in the sector (just being candid). 

Why would an experienced investor seek out a novice investor with no knowledge of the commercial sector in an attempt to locate passive investors. 

As @Steve Vaughan has said,Any government program will be by the book: 1003 app, Personal Guarantee, DTI, etc.Learn about 203(b)http://search.usa.gov/search?

The kids are being raised trilingually, we're quite an international family ;)I have recently (Feb 2015) switched from being an employee to becoming a freelance consultant in the Health IT sector.

For my profession i own two businesses in the e-commerce sector. 

In my case, I am from the tech industry, so I only invest in that sector.