@Matt Ward - Two main reasons I don’t want to invest out here. 1) The money I have earmarked for investing is nowhere near enough for a down payment on a traditional non-FHA loan out here, and 2) the prospect of a 10% dip in home value amounting to $80k+ rather than $10-20k is terrifying to me as a new investor.

For the rental side of this transaction, should I go for traditional tenants with long term contracts?

Some sellers will offer 0% interest rates, while others will offer rates that are similar to more traditional lenders. 

@Kirk FrickeyHey Kirk,Vinyl flooring is the hot seller in today’s market for a variety of reasons, the Main being the flexibility of design allowing you to have modern looking flooring for a fraction of the cost of traditional materials, the second being ease of installation - particularly with click lock mechanisms.

You want to reach out to traditional lender for a pre approval as without it you're not a good bet for the agent.

Is there such a thing or would it be better to learn the traditional ropes at the beginning and focus on such a client as I progress? 

Hopefully the seller realizes this and has an open mind about non-traditional financing.  

If that's the case, then he might believe there is a high probability that you will be scared away from the property by a certain type of issue (and rightly so), even though he or she is unwilling to communicate those explicitly in the listing.Bottom line - I think you follow up regularly and try to get a good idea for why the seller is averse to you using traditional or FHA financing - perhaps with a starting guess that there are some skeletons that are likely to be uncovered in inspection and due diligence.I'd strongly suggest that you do not turn to another source of financing to close the deal on this first purchase.

I used traditional mortgage lending.

We’ll do the traditional FHA so we get in with a low amount down and then live there for the required year and then buy and move into our next Duplex.My wife and parents will be the ones on the mortgage for this first property as I just started a new position this week.