Investment Property after foreclosure

[Marie Reb]

I have property that was foreclosed under me and my husband's name. The foreclosed date was Aug 2016 (per our County records). We are planning to buy a house in Sept 2018 using my VA loan. We are planning to buy an investment property after Dec 2020 when the foreclosure is removed from our credit report. But I found out that the 7 yr waiting period starts in Aug 2016 therefore, it doesn't matter whether our credit report doesn't show any foreclosure anymore.

How would you guys approach this?  I really want to purchase for investment.  I thought we had it figured out until I learned that the 7 yr waiting period starts in Aug. 2016.