Just remember though unless you have deep pockets you need to at a bare minimum stay cash flow neutral until you get the property running and your debt paid off.  

An agent with market knowledge and deal flow that could present us with off and on market properties that match our strategy will be needed.

Kind of piggybacking off this same notion but I have a permitted shed in the back of my duplex that would make a great studio apt. 

Finding motivated sellers off market and making offers using creative finance strategy.

Personally, If I could pull out a HELOC, I would use it to fix and flip which will typically make sense as you shouldnt be keeping the money out for that long and you can recycle it or pay it back and build off the capital that you got from. the flip.

I'll say 1000 times, I'm so glad I listened to BP for years before doing this, or the stupid hangups would have me jumping off a cliff.

With the caveat that you have to pay off your VA loan (or use less than your total eligibility) to be able to use it again moving into another property. 

You can also write off expenses such as property management, insurance, repairs, etc.

I looked into a program that is called the rei accelerator and they said they will guarantee me a deal of a 60+ unit apartment building in the next 4 months and i will get to a closing table and generate $20,000 a month off my first deal with working with them.

If you’re not in a rush to tap your equity, holding off until rates come down could save you money in the long run.