Quick cosmetic rehab in an active sales market.The borrower profile has lots to do with it but so does the asset profile. 

I don't know what the land market is like in Colorado, but in California, there is land that you need to put on the market because the buyer profile is someone who comes out of the woodwork and who you'd never find without putting it out there, so I use platforms like MLS, Crexi, AIR, Loopnet and Costar.

I don't think I'm allowed to link it here but you can find it in my biggerpockets profile.

I tend not to provide financial advice but would say as I get older my risk profile will continue to decrease.

For the other, it got me almost nowhere (many namesakes, no social profiles, no phone or email or address...).Any tips?

And Jake Mercer has posted a lot of helpful arbitrage tips on this forum which you can find on his profile page.

I'm going to give you some advice because I know the borrower profile that big box lenders like.First, get your credit as high as possible. 

I have access to the VA loan from serving.I spend hours listening to audiobooks, reading, browsing the forums, and getting my RL license so I can be as educated as possible, but my question is, how much money would I need to begin investing in real estate?

This gives you ratable spend over the long term, but you’ll surely have peaks and valleys in your spend profile, so ensure you have the reserves to carry the peaks.

You can also browse MLS everyday if you want but I like seeing deals coming into my inbox everyday, even if I'm not ready to buy.