Paying over market price for a personal use residence is often justified by measuring the personal intangible benefits against the extra money cost.

Real estate agents are irrelevant.VA tends to be protective of its borrowers and therefore keeps stringent inspection guidelines.

@Kesru Tam - With the following caveats: 1) all Wall Street (WS) investments are measured each year, where as a RE investment is really only measured from purchase to sale.

Do others see this and other measures like rent control as opportunities to invest as this may scare away other investors leaving more properties available?

Still shopping...Two major items to note: Firstly,  the VA requirements for a property to be used for a VA loan can be quite stringent.

I also have a measuring wheel and can do measurements and square footage verification.

This is could be a marketing opportunity for multfamily investors to highlight their hygiene and safety considerations maybe by adding sanitizer, sanitzing wipes and other measures to common areas as hygiene amenities... just a thought. 

Is there ways to help reduce those costs other than upgrading to energy efficient appliances in the future. i did see a mention of the Clean Reads program for water in the Cleveland area for more accurate measurements if anyone can help explain that a little more.

They would measure floor square footages so I would know kitchen is 150 sq ft, bedrooms are a total of 400 sq ft, etc. 

Since Texas has requirements for Lease Options of more than 180 days so stringent that even the most knowledgeable investors do not want to do them,  ask them how they fulfill those requirements?