Even though you have a VA loan, you still WANT good credit.  

Here’s some guidance to help with your next steps:Hard Money Loan: Hard money lenders can often cover both the purchase price and some rehab costs (up to 70-75% of the after-repair value or ARV).

I'm thinking long term rentals will be a good retirement plan.

Must have tools: you need some type of evaluation metric and/or tool that you are comfortable with and are willing to walk about from a deal if it doesn't meet your requirements.also, a deal is a term for a transaction, not to be confused with a "good deal".

VA loans are the only loans that allow this, and there is no rate penalty for it no longer being your primary home.With that in mind, you could do a cash out refinance today at a higher rate than current market rates which will create profit on the loan, we can take that profit to pay for your closing costs.

In Denver metro area, for instance, the city of Denver only allows short-term rentals in a primary residence.

I have been trying to save up money but it is not near a down payment for a traditional loan.

Sure, I could look for a higher paying job, but I was wondering if anyone has any creative short-term methods to improve my ratio.

The owner should look at it more like a DSCR, and should be pricing the property and offering terms such that the income from the property is adequate to pay back the loan.

This approach gives you access to better loan terms and makes the investment more feasible.In my market, the BRRRR strategy only works if you purchase an absolute steal from the seller—and deals like that are virtually nonexistent.