Even though it wasn't the answer you were looking for, it is the correct answer.

Either way, I ran a proforma and this looks like a good deal (as long as you don't have too much in the way of rehab/maintenance costs).Also, IMO, you can probably raise rents even higher.

Even for this one there's a big maybe as regional asset class everywhere is experiencing cap rate compression as well inc. these two asset classes.

I always tell clients to take care of the hard job first - If this is a sellers market then find your property and even get it under contract before you sell your old property.  

If that investor hadn't planned it carefully and re-invested that money into the property or even the purchase of another then a recapture fee would hit them hard. 

Not sure how many PMCs you've had bad experiences with, but we'll take exception to:"Then do a thorough research on tenant applicants (note: leaving this to a PM may be hazardous to your financial health)".BP seems to have more threads about screening mistakes by DIY landlords as opposed to PMCs.Now, if you'd have mentioned Maintenance, you'd get no argument from me:) Even the PMC industry acknowledges maintenance as one of the biggest challenges.Rereading my post, I kinda see how I sounded negative toward PMs.  

They came back to me with such a lowball number for the master lease program it wasn't even worth discussing.

Even though you have a VA loan, you still WANT good credit.  

Start there to see if it is even worth your while.

And while I agree that debt is often the cheapest form of capital, if you are looking at a project that involves some form of value-add business plan, you can always refi either when rates come down or you have increased the yield on the asset to exceed your interest rate.But like Stuart noted, for many groups, even the most seasoned syndicators, raising call cash for their deals is effectively impossible.