Different types of loans

FHA

This loan is perfect for a low income buyer, with a debt to income allowed ratio of 43%. It also allows you to purchase a multi-family residence and use 75% of the rental income to be added to your income to help you qualify. You will have to live in the house you purchase for a minimum of 1 year. Up to 3% of your closing costs can be paid by the seller.
The drawback of this loan is the obligatory Mortgage Insurance consisting of two parts: an upfront fee of 1.75% of loan amount added into your loan and the monthly payments. The montly MIP (Mortgage Insurance Premium) in 2014 are 1.35% a year for buyers who put 5% or less down. It used to be that you pay MIP as part of your monthly payment for 5 years or until 78% LTV (loan-to-value), whichever is longer. Unfortunately, FHA just made a change in their rules now requiring MIP to be paid for 11 years if your original LTV was 90% or lower and for the life of the loan if you started out with 90% LTV or higher, which is everyone putting 3.5% down. See the FHA website for more info . This rule applies to anyone who bought the house using FHA prior to June 3rd, 2013. So, from now on, for anyone who got an FHA loan and paid the minimum 3.5% down payment, the only way out of paying the MIP is to refinance to a conventional loan.
The appraisal of the property for an FHA loan is quite strict. If the house is old and has any visible imperfections, such as peeling paint spots, you'd want to make sure the seller is willing to be fixing things, otherwise you might apply for an FHA 203k (rehab) right from the beginning.

FHA 203k also known as rehab

With 203k you still only need to put 3.5% down, and you can still use the rental income to help you qualify. You have the same debt to income ratio, and the Mortgage Insurance. But using this loan is a good idea, because not only are you not depending on the seller to fix the problems to your satisfaction, but the cost of repairs will be rolled into the loan, and you can choose to remodel the property as well, up to the loan amount you are qualified for. Normally 203k loan takes a month longer than a regular FHA loan.

Conventional

This loan has a stricter qualification guidelines - the debt to income ratio is 36%. The conventional loan is not secured by the government. With a smaller down payment many lenders still require Mortgage Insurance. I have seen some conventional loans lately with the same low down payment as FHA loans. From time to time some bank would even offer a zero down conventional mortgage without the Mortgage Insurance! They pop up and disappear - you have to hunt for them. As a rule, you would have to put 20% down not to have mortgage insurance in most cases. There has been a general opinion that a conventional loan appraisal is more lenient than an FHA appraisal. I do not agree with that. The strictness of the appraisal seems to depend mostly on the individual appraiser, and the lenders do not have any control anymore in choosing an appraiser - the goverment requires the lender to hire a random appraiser now in order to eliminate any cheating. The interest rates on conventional loans is higher than the FHA loans.

HomePath

The nice thing about a HomePath loan is that there is no appraisal and no Mortgage Insurance. So if you are a handy-person and like fixing things, you can fix the house yourself at your own pace without any deadlines or inspections. However, the repairs can be very costly, and if you anticipate such a case, you might consider an FHA 203k loan instead of HomePath, so you can finance the repairs with the loan. Also, I have found that the HomePath approved lenders have minimums, and will not finance inexpensive fixers. The interest rate is higher on these loans as well, which brings the monthly payments up to what you'd pay for the FHA loan. The down payment is also higher - 5%. So the only really benefit of this loan is in not having to fix whatever the problems right away, and not having to qualify for a higher loan amount with those repairs added into the loan. But unless you are experienced with working on houses and/or have someone who is, this type of a loan is a dangerous way to go.

VA

This loan is great if you are a Veteran. If you are, here is a link to a website get more information.
The guarantee VA provides to lenders allows them to provide you with more favorable terms:
No down payment as long as the sales price doesn't exceed the appraised value.
No mortgage insurance premium requirement.
VA rules limit the amount you can be charged for closing costs.
Closing costs may be paid by the seller.
The lender can't charge you a penalty fee if you pay the loan off early (although, most loans are like that anyway).
VA may be able to provide you some assistance if you run into difficulty making payments.
You don't have to be a first-time homebuyer.
You can reuse the benefit.
VA loans are assumable, as long as the person assuming the loan qualifies.

USDA

This is a wonderful loan if you are buying a house in a rural area. Zero down financing, low interest rates - comparable to FHA rates. The Mortgage Insurance is supposed to be smaller than FHA.
There are two requirements for an USDA loan:
1.The home must be located in a designated rural area. Go to this link to see if your home is in the eligible area: eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do
2. Your income can not exceed a maximum 115% of the median income for your area. Here is a link to the income eligibility chart.

If you are not currently working with a lender or a mortgage rep I can refer you to someone who can get you a loan that matches your needs.