It seems as if she would have to reduce her W2 income but that seems counter productive! 

@Zach HochstetlerThe lender can't "force" into one loan product or the other.Just to clarify... 

etc..If you are looking to leverage debt and come in w/ little to no money down (VA), I'd recommend owner occupying / house hacking / whatever you want to call it and depending on if you're looking at an SFR or duplex an FHA or conventional loan product will most likely work best. 

Have you watched the video on how to use the calculators.

Chuck Fowke, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), is quoted in the article as noting that “Despite strength in buyer traffic and lack of existing inventory, builders are slowing some production of single-family homes as lumber and other material costs, along with interest rates, continue to rise.”That said, over the 12 months we’ve seen a 36% increase in permits, but a delay in construction.

Their novelty product?

I am currently in Houston, TX but will be moving back to Allentown in November to continue working at Air Products in Trexlertown PA.

When would it be wiser to use a conventional home mortgage than a product like this?

Joel Owens here on BP is one I've always been impressed with his understanding of product type, cycles, returns etc.

I  even asked him if he minded to be recorded confirming his willingness to move forward after the first time and we got him back to the bargaining table and both him and his sister signed a release to the title company as well as agreed to the video recording, but the daughter "smelled" $ and convinced him to back out around 2 weeks afterwards.