How about actual profit after a sale pre-November? 

Hello all - this is a complicated situation (at least to me) and I would like some advice for any other experienced attorney's and real estate investors.I have a 21 Unit portfolio under contract, that is in pre-foreclosure and I am buying it at a good discount.

Pre-congrats on being debt-free. 

However, when I tried to get pre-approval for a new loan I was told I can only use 75% of the average rent for the area.

-Are you pre-approved?

FOLLOW THE K.I.S.S method plan (keep it simple and stupid).Find and hire a real estate agent that understands multiple investment strategiesGet pre-approved - see what options you havebased on your pre approved price - identify an area you want to invest in that you can affordLeverage the agent to : bring you properties, assist in pulling comparables (you should know your comparables of the area you are looking in, this is for a second opinion) review and confirm your estimated rental income, assist you with acquiring the property, and have a list of resources you could use; contractors etc.Looks at properties and make offers that work for YOU.Also,Do not pull your IRA money out, leave it there and let it grow - leverage this to meet your lenders reserve requirements.Buy Multi family to holdBuy single family to fix and flip and produce more income to buy more multi families.

What I’m hoping to do is use the rest of my remaining VA Loan entitlement (roughly 450k) to get pre approved and put an offer on a primary residence in Tampa/St.

Speak with a lender and get pre-approved.

Talk to a lender and your agent to get you pre-approved so that you don't have to go through the process and let one slip between your fingers if the correct deal arises. 

G'Day Carlos,Personally, I think it's a recipe for disaster rehabbing from out of state.IMO you would need deep roots in the specific market you are looking at investing.Or years long experience of knowing the who, what and when in that specific market.I only know of a handful of folks that can do it successfully and even they have been at it for many years and probably still loose money on rehabs to this day, no matter how integrated they are with everything and everyone.A good resources for pre-purchase, during rehab and after rehab's is Inspectify.Always get eyes on site before buying a property or processing a progress draw for the rehab.Much success