Hello all!

My girlfriend and I are new to real estate investing and we know what strategy we want to follow; it’s going to be buy-and-hold in multifamily properties. We are aiming to buy a property around the middle of 2017 in the Sacramento area.

Even though we think we will have between $25k to $35k saved up between the two of us, that will still not be enough for a 20% down payment, and even if it were, we don't want to have all of our capital tied up in just the down payment and closing costs, therefore, we have been thinking about an FHA or 203k loan since they only require a minimum of 3.5% down payment. But another option I heard about in the BiggerPockets podcast, episode 90 I believe, is that one of the person's interviewed did a conventional loan for only 5% down and he was able to pay the PMI upfront, so I began considering this option as well.

Also, since we are not married and we are planning to structure a partnership.

From this I have a few questions:

• What are some key things to consider with an FHA or 203k loans?
• Has anyone done a conventional loan with less than 20% down? Did you have the option to pay the PMI upfront? If so, what did the numbers look like?
• In the conventional mortgage options, does it have to be owner-occupied like an FHA loan?
• What type of banks would typically do an FHA or 203k loans or a conventional loan with less than 20% down?
• How can I go about finding banks that have FHA or 203k loans?
• Would my girlfriend and I be able to put both of our names in the loan or does it have to be in one name if it's an FHA or 203k loan?
• Anything else related these types of financing that I should be aware of or need to educate myself in more?