Advice: Sell in Colorado, buy in OH?

[Matthew Cook]

Hello Everyone, I'm looking for some advice. I'm a new Investor looking to get into the game. I've been researching and educating myself for a couple years while saving, paying down debt, and getting in a good position to be an Invester. I have two current routes for entry that I considering. My wife and I bought a house in 2015 in Denver-metro suburbs for $269k. Through forced appreciation and market appreciation we could sell it right now for between $375-399k. If we sold, I would get access to my VA loan again where we could buy a new home that better fits my family's needs in the $550k range. With the sale we could potentially make $100k which I don't have to put into the new purchase because of VA loan, and I could potentially buy, Reno, hold, and rent 2 properties in a market like Columbus, OH. Final assests could be worth $150k each? OR, we keep our CO home, rent it out for around $22oo/month, and buy our new home with refinance plus a separate down payment. Our long term goal is to buy and hold/rent so our first asset is already worth $400k. Not sure about what route to take and would love advice.