@Erik Whiting,I'll throw out my opinion, as we have a rental that we get $650/mo, it's a cute 2/1, 628 sq ft.    

It wasn’t until I received some pay raises and my income started to really grow that I got to thinking of investment opportunities again and something reminded me to throw on a podcast episode of BP while on a long drive.

Unless there's an actual provision in your specific loan agreement that prevents you from renting it out for 1 year, it's not an actual requirement, just "gouge," to use the military jargon, that people like to throw around as a rule of thumb.The point of the VA Loan is to provide service members and veterans the opportunity to purchase a primary residence. 

If you're throwing out more applications does this experience tell you that the pricing is too high? 

Yes it might seem like the tenant caused it by accident, but unless there is video of the tenant throwing out the cigarette, and then the fire starting, you can't really prove it.

You could look off-market but then it’s time intensive, there are likely marketing costs, realtors don’t want to throw out horrible “low” offers for a newbie who has never closed on a investment property.

Due to work finally catching up with me, one of my thoughts I've been throwing around in my head is the following:The house I am currently living in use to be a two (2) family dwelling.

Equity in a property is actually buying cash flow which is not the same thing as a property that is generating positive cash flow.Investors trick themselves into believing they have positive cash flow by throwing cash at a investment.

Bluff them a bit, you can probably see what they're willing to come down and then throw a low verbal offer to see where they'd meet you.

I did find one bank that would refinance to a 15-year loan at a good rate, but that would involve throwing a lot of cash into principal to get the payment down to the point it keeps cashflowing strongly.I've only ever bought two places, this rental and the one I'm in now, but I had considered buying a 3rd place in DC before my next overseas stint.