First Property (planning phase)

[Josh Springer]

Introduction: Sorry for the long wall o' text.
Hey all, been digging around the forums and blogs people have been posting up. First, I'd like to give all of you a big "thank you" in advance, especially those who have been active in the community and producing content. We (my wife and I) would not have decided to pull the trigger if it were not for an active community such as this one. This community has really given us the confidence to move forward. 

Back Story (feel free to skip!):
After 8 years of debating, we're finally going to pull the trigger. To let you all know how much we're putting into this, we're selling our "dream home" to start investing into our financial freedom, instead of keeping up with the jones. 

Luckily, being in the military, our previous homes we always purchased only if we have equity in the home to begin with. Our first home purchase, we made 40k which really gave me the bug for investment, but we did not act when we moved again. Similar situation now, except this time in a "Class A" high-end neighborhood. Purchased the house a year ago and fortunate enough to make a slight profit on it now as well, even with closing, but giving us the opportunity to start our journey on financial freedom. 

So far, I've really lucked out in networking. I've got a couple mentors I'm working with, get some great and varied advice from different perspectives, including guy that doesn't even own a computer! :). The most recent is my previous real estate agent, who when I called this morning to ask if he was investor friendly, we began to talk. He recommended I hop onto biggerpockets, as it has helped him significantly with REI, and as soon as I told him I'm already active in scanning it, you could hear the excitement in his voice! He's not only a friendly REI agent, he and a couple of partners have also moved into whole selling.

First Property (planning)
At the moment, we're fortunate enough to have a sound emergency fund and we would prefer not dip into that for our first investment. I'm learning various financing strategies, but for our first property we will most likely use VA funding and purchase a duplex, living on one side for at least the first year.

For our first property, what we're really debating, would it make more sense to secure a more "turn key" investment with VA funding and figure out the BRRR strategy later once we field the market a little more? Our goal for this year is to secure at least one property, with a stretch goal to acquire 3 (giving us more of an opportunity to learn the market, network, etc).

From your personal opinions, does it seem like a good idea to just go ahead with a turn key under VA funding, or should we just figure out BRRR process on a low-risk (lower-cost) property early in? At what point were you comfortable enough to move forward on creative funding methods? 

From that regard, anyone have a recommendation for any turn-key companies with a reputable background in the Dayton, OH area? I'll continue digging, but figured I'd ask on the forefront.