Use the option contract as a vehicle to discover the seller's urgency and price point. 

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@Greg Scott, you are missing couple things:Self-directed 401k can be a great way to diversify into alternative investments, one of my favorites is trust deeds which offers great returns, low risk and completely passive (unlike rental real estate), all the income will be sheltered, can't do that outside of a tax deferred vehicle. 

That being said, $3750 is the new qualifying income, minus $1250 for rent, minus $200 for utilities, minus $150 for Phones and TV, minus $1000 for two expensive vehicles.

I'm looking for an investment vehicle with little to no risk that doesn't generate taxable income until I want to cash it in some number of years in future.

A utility trailer is not a vehicle. 

Also, the purpose of a VA loan is to help veterans find a home, not as a vehicle for investments.

If you need to buy a vehicle in your company's name, that's a lot different then if you are just looking to segregate personal and business funds.If you just need to segregate your funds, you can just take out a personal credit card that you devote to purely business expenses and use it as a business line of credit.

Is there a better vehicle outside of the short sale to acquire the property?

Frankly, my vehicles and homes have been burglarized more in A+ and B+ class than they ever were in D class