Pro-rent control people seem to lack an understanding of basic common sense.  

Makes sense. 

If you're not interested in being involved with any of the problems it may make sense for you to invest your money in a fund.

I wasn't even aware of the standard form, but that makes sense.

Single-family rentals don't seem to make much sense here but there are some pretty decent two to four unit properties that work well for house hacking.

He literally grew up with donkeys and camels as the family "vehicles," so it 100% makes sense that spitting twigs out off to the side wasn't something he gave second thought to... plop a 19th century cowboy in a Corvette, and he might spit chewing tobacco without really thinking about it!

You could also buy a single family or townhome in MD or NOVA that would make sense as a rental if you move in 2 years. 

If the reason is something explainable then it may make sense to take other factors into consideration and get a larger deposit to offset credit score.

Investing the money in a rental property would make sense if I owned the place I'm living in, but I don't.

As long as the deal makes sense and it will appraise, you should be able to get 20-25 year amortization, but it will likely come with a 5 or 10 year call.