As an active-duty (soon transitioning) Air Force myself, I know the VA loan is a powerful asset for us.

Would a HELOC or home equity loan on my personal home be a good idea to fund this?  

Our names go on title and our loans have the real estate as collateral so they are “secured loans.”  

If you are willing to live in urban areas you may want to talk to a local bank in your market and see if they have any incentives or grant loans for certain areas.  

You may want to look at small independent stores.

.: In a prior post from about 2 months ago, Kerry Malarkey and Nathan Gesner mentioned a small landlord is exempt from FHA requirements requiring the acceptance of emotional support & assistance animals if one of the following is true:"Owner-occupied buildings Properties with four units or fewer that are owned and lived in by the ownerSingle-family homes Homes that are sold or rented without a broker by the owner, as long as the owner doesn't own more than three at once" (Quote from Nathan's reply))https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1219359-pitbu...Given this, if a landlord does qualify for the exemption, what exactly does this mean? 

That means weekly on going preventative maintenance fixing small problems before they become big problems. 

You should be able to take out a small loan using the property as collateral.

Quote from @Leonard La Rocca III: So is it common to find a conventional loan without meeting the lender in-person?

Small shop brokers that have access to multiple programs so that they aren't beholden to one or just a few loan programs will typically get the most competitive product for the borrower.