, etc.My freedom from why was enormous and I sacrificed enormously to attain it.  

Common pitfalls are poor underwriting, poor risk assessment, being over zealous, sacrificing prudent lending practice to gain an edge on competitors, no take-out for you loans, lack of available capital, over-promising borrowers and not delivering, improper loan documents or the absence of material docs. 

I don't want my business investments to interfere with my personal business and further complicate everything I do.I realize that in doing so, I am sacrificing some in the rate but it seems worth it in the long run.Did anyone execute this strategy starting out?

Veterans like you have sacrificed so much in order to protect the land that we not only call home, but - in the case of us real estate investors - depend on for a living.With that said, I'd love to help you house-hack a property in SD with a VA loan.

I am not opposed to making it a traditional rental, if I can find someone who could equip it with a well-qualified tenant, but I think I may be sacrificing my margin if I do that.

Customer service was also friendly and helpful.The only drawback i could see is that the money you withdraw from the TSP can't work for you in the fund, so you are sacrificing growth in your retirement portfolio over a decent stretch of several years. 

I and most I know that are free, sacrificed in the beginning.  

I sacrificed my comfort to turn my condo(which I got for a great price) into a rental I'm currently waiting on an offer for a single family house in vancouver. again in a good area, where the price of my mortgage is less then the average rent costs.

It was an arduous journey, a lot of sacrificing, but busting my butt working two jobs, school full time, while househacking finally paid off. 

Your answer to that question should also apply to your scenario of sacrificing cash flow to crash debt on one property vs building up cash flow to apply as down payments on other properties....or potentially just spending on something else i guess.While most of the people would prefer more properties and debt, that requires a long term hold, careful cash management and less, if any emphasis on future appreciation....at least in terms of counting on any.