None of this was REI, some was primary residences(that wouldn't have RTP well on entry but by selling or moving out was very ITM).

With your disability rating, you'll also be exempt from the VA funding fee which will save you thousands of dollars.It can be difficult to scale a rental portfolio using only the VA loan because VA designed this loan to be a benefit to the veteran to help you acquire a primary residence. 

I've completed my primary home rehab, ADU build, and have a tenant in place. 

(Though maybe twice so maybe a bad example.)But if you buy an identical house 10 miles out of primary city for 20% less and charge 20% less rent.

According to our understanding of the VA home loan guidelines, a property can be up to 4 units, and mix use is allowed so long as the property will be the buyer’s primary residence and the the commercial use is subordinate to the residential use comprising no more than 25% of the property space.

My vision was this summer to rehab the home as a primary residence but now needing some creative ideas of what to do once we do a tear down.

However, my concern is:  would my parents be committing fraud by getting a HELOC, and then turning their primary into a rental just a few months later? 

The first was my primary residence in Florida. 

Was purchased as our primary residence, then we moved and have been renting it out.

Written by attorney investors, it's full of practical advice pertaining to management of investment property, has sample forms that can be edited, and - most importantly - they tell you what your primary state laws are and where you can read them.