Drawbacks to classifying a loan as a 2nd home vs invest. property

[Nicole Richards]

I appreciate some advice here.  We are attempting to making our first purchase of a rental out of state where are kids are attending college.  Attempting a college house hack. ($10K savings yearly vs living on campus) The lender recommended we purchase it as a second home instead of an investment property to obtain a better interest rate.  We are putting 20% down to avoid mortgage insurance.  I have asked both my realtor and the lender and neither felt comfortable answering with all the changes in tax code in 2018.

My questions are tax related.  

1. Will we still be able to depreciate it on our taxes if it is purchased as a 2nd home instead of an investment property?  

2. Will we be able to rent it out to other kids besides our own after 2 years?

3. Is there anything you can think of that we might run into with this that would limit it as an investment?