VA loan amount for multi-family

[Edward Jung]

Hello!
I'm trying to get an understanding of the approval process for a VA loan. It seems that for serious consideration, a borrower has to have 6 months of the mortgage saved up. However, if the property is partially rented out, will 6 months of the full mortgage have to be saved for consideration or will 6 months of the difference between the mortgage and rental income suffice?

For example:

A quadruplex at $500,000 with 0% down and an interest rate of 5.75% with property taxes of 0.6%, $4,000/year in home insurance and $5,000/year in repairs will have a total out of pocket of $3,980.60/month. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll say it’s $4,000/month.

3 of the units are rented out at $1,100/unit and the last unit is owner-occupied for 1 year, per VA loan requirements.

Does this mean that a borrower should still have $24,000 ($4,000 mortgage*6 months) saved up or that $4,200 (($4,000 mortgage - (3 units *$1,100 rent))*6 months) saved is enough?

For further context, the borrower would be able to comfortably afford the mortgage with the rental income but not without it completely.

I understand that potential rental income from the property may be considered for a loan amount, but I’m not sure how potential income affects the liquid amount that lenders want to see when issuing a loan. Thanks for the help!