@Justin Yurong  You mentioned you're near the end of escrow, but typically inspection is usually the first contingency released. 

Yes you can use a conventional loan for an investment property, however, if it's non-owner occupied lenders will usually ask for 20-30% down.  

Usually a little lower for your primary residence.

Appraisals are usually higher than a house is worth on the open market.

School is starting in a couple weeks and as soon as that happens the market usually cools off a bit.

Having said that, they are usually a higher interest rate loan as opposed to a conventional mortgage and the max that Suncoast will loan on a HELOC is $100K.

(usually 12 months). 

I want to start out with general real estate discussion forum

About 3-5 weeks but keep in mind that showing occupied usually makes peope think it has less space.

For me it will be totally cash flow based.. run the numbers... in general you will likely get a better return with multi.. on the flip side when it comes time to dispose you will have a broader buyer base for a single family with investors and end users vs usually only investors for multis.. really depends on your plan and goal..