I still have enough room with my VA entitlement for a buy and hold in a couple of years, so I'd rather save it for later!

I have spoken with a couple real estate agents and they are scared to let me have the agreement thinking they are breaking some kind of code of ethics letting me have it.

I am looking for suggestions on how to structure a partnership (short term) that will benefit him but allow me to be dissolve our partnership after a couple years as he isn't interested in long term holds. 

You're local to me.There's a couple ways to go at this ;If you're looking to save some money you can have your plumber install sub-meters after the individual meters.

I can’t attend local real estate gatherings and any investor I network with won’t share their contractor without getting anything in return. 

Quote from @Bo Baudrexl: I have been on Baselane for a couple months now.

When my business partner and I were still flipping we bought a couple through Auction.com and we always used a private money lender to fund those and our other flips. 

He told me that he owned a couple large mobile home parks in town and that's what started everything for me.

Rates are also better with these than with an investment loan.There are a couple of investment loan programs available that offer 10% down as well with no PMI, but they have slightly higher rates.

You will appreciate what a couple of month of effort and education can do for your credit with very little financal output.