I have been self employed for most of my adult life.

Once again start talking to a realtor ahead of time to open your options up and start to get an idea of the market.I highly suggest you look for a realtor with the Military Relocation Professional (MRP) designation because they have taken extra courses to learn more about service members and more importantly the VA loan.

Stick to the basic luxuries, an HDTV with a Roku and a BluRay player with some adult movies. 

Branding, print/web design, social media management and marketing.

I formed my own Meetup, designed to bring like minded investors together. 

Further the adult children may with to move out on their own during the lease period.

However, it still doesn't solve the aspect of how to tie into it, and what the final design may look like. 

What are some good design books to read for flipping houses?

I was and continue to be a project designer.

Easy thing you can do is if there are any apartment buildings designed for student housing in your area go and ask them for an application and what their process is.