It was actually fun (And exhausting)!   

Additionally, I feel calling my contacts up on the weekly to discuss listings without being able to physically see the properties may exhaust the relationship.Have any of you faced this challenge, and if so, what techniques did you use to help overcome this?

It took me about 6 months to recover from the mental and physical exhaustion.

@Noah Farley I'm not aware of any, but I keep the investor mindset and in most instances and try to exhaust all of the free options for everything first, it might lead you to a better outcome.

We were looking at it more for the flexibility of looking at a lot of properties frequently, MLS access and being able to continuously put in offers without exhausting an agent who has other clients to focus on as well.  

Definitely exhaust all the areas near you first though even though I know your area is super expensive maybe you'll get lucky and find a good deal. 

Sorry this is months late however I'm jumping back on track now after months of learning ,working to pay my bills & exhausted burnt out Life Challenges! 

I get it, the forum is here for the discussion but I want to encourage you to make every effort possible to find the answers on your own, exhaust all efforts to get the information you are looking for before asking people to answer the question for you, more often than not you will find the information on your own or you will refine your question to the point that it becomes interesting enough for people of solid intellect to respond to.

As far as capital to get started, after you've exhausted the VA loan, the typical and common answer for a primary residence is a 20% down payment with a credit score and cash reserves good enough to qualify for a mortgage.

It would be ridiculous in my opinion to demand one on a property that I didn't bring to the buyer.That being said, I am doing my own form of off market farming, but more of a targeted-area traditional MLS listing AND/OR potential off-market deal, depending on condition as I am completely mentally exhausted and done with my service business that currently pays my bills (and wastes my time :) ) and have a burning desire to replace its income with RE commission ASAP so I can roll up my sleeves and start building a RE empire full time.