Is anyone experiencing the same difficulty, and how have you gotten around it?  

You are right about the difficulty of finding a good property.

Thanks for the nugget on the difficulty of multi family in the burbs as well.

If you're talking about being near state parks, I'd just be careful about being too rural because you'll have difficulty finding the necessary partners to run the property for you.

I was considering a fire house but thought the difficulty would be a lender agreeing to it.

I'm sure a small local bank could get this done for you without much difficulty.  

If we have an FHA loan already, does this make obtaining a conventional loan more difficult? 

Many people are suggesting to do a 1031 but have no idea what your gain / tax is(if any).Co-ops in the tri-state area 'normally' don't appreciate a crazy amount.The main reasons is the high monthly maintenance costs, over-leverage of the board, potential difficulty of buyers getting a mortgage and the approval process of the buyer.With that said, talk to your CPA to discuss what your gain / tax would be before thinking about a 1031 exchange.If your tax burden is low, don't bother with the 1031It may be possible that you have suspended passive losses to cover your tax burden.best of luck.

Is this enough to postpone buying the first rental until weather warms up or is this difficulty not really an issue?

., cause him difficulties.