Using co-living to purchase several homes and scale?

[Kusal Kularatne]

Hi y'all! I'm an ROTC Cadet in my junior year and will be commissioning as an Army Officer in 2023. I plan on using the VA loan to buy a house and use the co-living/house hacking model to grow my portfolio. Here's the breakdown, let me know if this sounds stupid.

1st home with VA loan (4b/4ba) – $300K @ 3.25% for 15 years.
Mortgage payment = $2100/mo
I use $1000/mo from my Army housing allowance and live in one room, sublease the other 3 rooms for $750/mo each ($3250/mo total).
Total monthly cashflow: $3250– $2100 = $1150/mo

2nd home with other lender (3b/2b) - $250K @ 3.5% for 15 years.
Mortgage payment = $1800/mo
Use $1150/mo from previous cashflow toward this, and sublease the 3 rooms for $750/mo each ($3400/mo total)
Total monthly cashflow: $3400 - $1800 = $1600/mo

Apply for 3rd mortgage, rinse and repeat using the cash flow.

Does this model make sense? Or am I missing something in my naivete? Obviously, these numbers are estimates, but as long as the math makes sense...is it possible to scale a RE portfolio using this strategy? Any legal or financial limits on doing this?

Let me know your thoughts!

Thanks so much,

Kusal