On the upside, the government pays all or part of the rent.

Since Tyndall is near by, watch to see what the government does.

Do you know the local/state/federal laws?

Louis County which has been in the crosshairs of county government for several years, specifically targeting landlords.

BUT, I would sit down with an attorney first and find out the legalities, as it's still a Federal crime and I would want to make sure that there's nothing that can be leveled against me.

The Wildwood Estates estates was in freefall and I believe that the original Developer  Michal Montross  was a federal fugitive.

I have not done a lot of research on laws governing self-directed IRA business transactions, but with self-directed 401ks, the IRS seemed to be pretty good at covering all their bases to make sure that if I am getting that tax benefit, I remain essentially housebroke until kids who are my age are calling me grandpa.

I also suggest looking at the actual VA loan terms on the official government website, https://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/purchaseco_e... , that will get you started but you'll have to dig around in there. 

This is highly subjective and determined by local government.

Their priorities, focus, and models of investing  might match up better with you.I loved this article today (yeah it's click bait and fluffy as all get out but it demonstrates for me the true power of real estate investing over the years) -   https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kushner-paid-no-federal-income-tax-for-years-documents-suggest/ar-BBOkaOq?