After that's under control, focus on increasing income through additional work at your current job, taking on a side hustle, or finding ways to increase income on your existing rental.At the same time, educate yourself.

After a few additional email interactions that same day, your DoC stated "I do not have an answer for you.

In short, I can afford the additional $1100/mo cost of a second house, even until I rent it out.I have around $35K in HYSA and emergency funds that I could use for a down payment, but that's less than 20% which would be required for a conventional loan, assuming full purchase price.

In addition to offering "cash for keys" assure them that they can use you as a referral on their next tenant application, or offer them a short term-2 month lease.

Additionally, Mr.

Plumbers can separate lines, but trenching and additional work can drive costs into the $5,000 –$10,000 range.

Additional costs will creep in and costs seem to go up faster than rents, so I would sell and try to otherwise optimize the VA loan. 

Any additional will be refunded a few weeks after the auction. 

Additionally, the beach is still within reach...just a short 1 hour flight or 6 hour drive.  

We’re fortunate to have an above-average income and live well below our means.This summer, we’ll be moving to Detroit (PCSing in August), and we’ve saved about $120,000 to invest in addition to having funds set aside for the home we’ll purchase in Detroit.The reason I’m posting is that I’m struggling to decide how to best allocate the $120k.