They want instant gratification.It's a cold world though, you ain't getting that without a cost.

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

The lender tacks on a lot of costs as the mortgage becomes delinquent and goes to foreclosure.

The major factors like the roof, furnace, plumbing, electrical upgrades, and foundation repairs are all examples of costly expenses you'll want to inspect before closing the deal.

Plus the cost of most things goes up over time.

For example, now incur 3 months of carrying costs and then have to sell for $20k less those extra costs are your damages that you could claim against the seller.

Yes you can buy properties extremely cheap there but the flipside is that once yoI've rehabbed them, recouping your rehab and purchase money will prove difficult because of the low property values .  

Just to give you an example of the type of thing you'd be potentially looking out for, if the community has a pool terrace planned and it's orientation in the new building would face directly towards your property, that could be a source of significant noise and disturbance for you/your tenants, and could make it much harder to sell your property once the new building is built and occupied.On the positive side, new apartment buildings cost millions of dollars to develop and build, and developers really only sink that much money into areas where they're forecasting rent growth and property appreciation for their investment.  

Would it be a mistake to not take advantage of the low money down loans for a first time home buyers primary residence, and instead attempt to invest out of state in a traditional investment property?

My recommendation would be to own residential first so you have a much better understanding of the costs to own real estate.