Maybe others here know of programs that I'm not familiar with. 

Thanks in advance.Warm Regards,Bobby The loan limit in Santa Clara would be 636,150 (new updated limit from prior of 625,500) as of Jan 1st 2017 and like you referenced you can bring in 25% of the difference up to your sales price above the 636,150.The nice thing with VA financing is that you will not have to adhere to the self sufficiency rule imposed by FHA which pretty much takes all 3-4 unit loans off the table in high cost markets like yours (could work in Tulare, modesto, some parts of sacramento, bakersfield, etc in CA).If its your first use its 2.15% upfront VAFF - VA funding fee or up to 3.30% for subsequent use of the VA program (this can be lowered by putting 5% down to get it down to 1.50% or 10% to get it to down to 1.25%).

If you go with a direct lender who doesn't insert overlays on a typical conventional loan program (fannie/freddie) you should get a a portion of that as income.

We don't use any software other than excel and quicken.Looking to switch to a more sophisticated software, Yardi seems to be the logical switch but wondering if there is any other program that works for our asset class that people would recommend over Yardi.

Not sure if you are based in the US. 401K is a US specific retirement savings program with tax benefits.

If you have a little bit more money to cover a downpayment and your credit is a little stronger, I work with a great lender who has a 5% down, Freddie Mac program with PMI only until you hit 20% equity, it which point, it disappears forever! 

So your budget seems to not go as far....so how to make things work...Anyway the loan 'program' may work in theory but you just took a 4 person transaction (buyer, seller and 2 agents) and it is now like 6 people. it's not whether the loan program will work or is streamlined, it's whether a seller and agents will want to deal with it.

I will say while buying a property can screw up your dti for at least a year, it’s not the end of the world to lose your 1st time buyer status, there are many conventional loan programs that allow 5% down (fha is 3.5).

It has a 3.625% (as of this writing) loan program, no down payment, no MPI.

They have a short training program that teaches you how to collect/use points and then they give recommendations on which cards are best for your goals.