Should I wait to invest in RE until I finish school?

[Tyler D.]

I'm a 29 y/o student and veteran. Currently I'm sitting on a lot of dry powder. About 150k in liquid cash as well as an unused VA/ FHA loan. I own one small SFH that I bought with cash and want to continue growing my empire (with leverage at our historically low interest rates), but I'm finding it very difficult to get qualified for loans.

I have a solid monthly income through the GI BIll, which is enough to cover my monthly expenses and more, but lenders will not consider it because it is not taxable. 

Since I'm persistent, I've been ramming my head at the wall trying to find ways to finance properties, without a whole lot of luck. There is the rule where you can use 75% of rents to offset the mortgage, but that requires financing a property that is occupied, which seriously limits my options to find deals.

Add to that the uncertain short-term future of the real estate market, and I'm wondering if it may be best to sit it out for the next few years, and hit it hard once I'm finished with school and have a real W2 income to back me up.

My main concern is that my stack of dry powder will wither away due to inflation, and I'm not exactly eager to throw it into something else like the stock market to preserve it right now. I feel like real estate is the safest option. Add to that the fact that real estate is a slow process, and I want to start building sooner rather than later, to better set up my future.

Your thoughts?