New to REI, lots of questions!

[Cameron Miles]

Hello everyone!

My name is Cameron Miles and I am currently active duty military (USMC) with a little over 7 years of service, however I will be separating from active duty in 10 months. My plan is to move to Houston Texas (I am originally from Austin) so I can attend college at the University of Houston and purchase a multifamily home, either a duplex or fourplex. While attending college I will receive $1,623 per month for 36 months as long as I am a full time student. Using my VA loan to purchase a property with 0% down and renting the other units while receiving BAH makes me feel like I have a leg up for my very first purchase. Here are my questions:

1. To qualify for a home loan, my understanding is that I must be employed and show my income. Part of my dilemma is that I move to Houston in either December or January, but don't officially separate until March 31 2015. I can seek employment, but I cannot be hired until I receive my DD214 upon separation. I wanted to purchase a property prior to my departure from here (Okinawa, Japan) so I have an address for the military to ship all of my household goods to. Is there a way I can purchase a property prior to separation if I cannot legally take on another job? I have a wife and daughter so staying with a friend would be inconvenient for everyone involved.

2. The degree I am seeking at Bauer is their entrepreneurship degree, which mainly offers daytime, face to face classes. This means I can probably only get a part time, night and weekend job while I am a student. Is it feasible to be approved for a home loan with only part time work of some sort?

3. Is anyone here currently residing or investing in Houston Texas?

4. I have been looking at properties, but I am unsure of how to establish their actual value. When I click on Tax Information on most websites, it has an appraised value but no date of the appraisal. Almost every property I have looked at is listed for 100k or more over the appraised value. Does this mean the market is high and it's a bad time to buy, or could the appraisal be old? How do I determine the actual value of a property so I can make offers for 80% of that value?

5. I spoke with another military member today who is separating and will receive $147,000 (pretax) for separation, but they have no plan for their money or life after the military. I explained my plans and convinced them to start a new company with me, investing 20-50k into the business to use as a down payment on an investment property. What are the different rules or factors that change for a property purchase if you do it with a company name instead of in the name of an individual?

6. Is renting to fellow college students I meet in school a bad idea?

These are all of the questions I can think of so far. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance to anyone who finishes reading this long post and is kind enough to respond. I do greatly appreciate all guidance and wisdom shared!

Very Respectfully,

Cameron