So it would be the sellers choice if they want to entertain a VA deal ??

Give them a deadline to complete the project or cut your losses and find someone else that can complete the project ASAP.Lots of hard choices, but that comes with being an actual investor and not all the rainbows & unicorns that many on this site promote.

I would think through where you ultimately want to land for personal and family reasons and allow that to inform the choice as well. 

This will limit your choices on where to invest and from there you can start networking and building out your trusted team. 

Based on the rental estimates, we would net about $700 a month in surplus income since our mortgage is pretty inexpensive.I'm looking to get any and all opinions as I want to make the correct choice for us and also want to make sure I don't screw anything up if we do decide to choose option 2. 

Cold weather, snow and holidays- no one wants to move right now unless they have no choice.

A lot of the posts make two really good points: (1) a lot of people are trying to sell their services to newbies, which is completely understandable but can be a train wreck (I almost made a bad choice in 2022 when I was a newbie on the site and trying to get my feet wet).

Probably better once they move out and you are accounting for the deposit.I think you have two choices. 

@Sabrina Savillo - You have a good problem, a problem that will put you in a good spot with either choice.

To get the best answer, think about other financing choices including portfolio loans, private lending, and conventional mortgages.