The former loses money when the deal doesn't work out, the latter still gets paid. 

Of course, I'd rather be making money instead of losing money each month.

But remember you can make or lose money most anywhere.

Will you lose most deals; probably, but there’s more downside to not being honest upfront with the seller.

Don’t even know if we’d be able to walk away without losing the earnest money.

@Matt Parker you are in sticky territory here and if you do anything wrong, and the tenant pushes back, you'll lose in court.There are 4 loopholes to SB 608 on why you can terminate a tenant.

However the pro's of less cash down is your if the market turns sour you lose less while the bank bears most of the risk and it also frees you up with cash to potentially invest elsewhere.But these are just from me reading and would like to hear the professional guru's opinions of which path would you take as a newbie in investing (or buying RE in general). thank you

After accounting for stimulus checks and increased unemployment benefits, how much did they actually lose?

Not saying you will get sued or you would win or lose, no idea, but that is the point. 

That means you will probably either pay a lot more and/or will lose a lot more deals before finally getting one.This is not meant to be discouraging, but newbies often quit when they find out how hard it is to get started, and the method you're using (FHA loan) will likely mean you have to have more patience than the average investor who already owns a personal residence and is looking to expand into rentals.