Hard to run the numbers from there, but lets do it anyway.Using your numbers above, using round numbers and pretending you bought at 70%, you've got:Buy:  $335kRehab: $50KAcquisition costs: $5k closing (seems high)$19k (5% of $385k rounded)Holding costs:  Interest: $29k (6 mos @ 15% on $385k rounded)Utilities: $3kTaxes:  $5k (No idea whats accurate here for there)Insurance: $2kTOTAL IN:  $475kPlus Sales costs:  $20,000  (3% plus some money for repairs concessions)Total is $495k with a $550k sales price or an expected profit of $55k.Really, though, your money costs should be way lower than this, though with better rates and nobody is going to let you borrow the full amount, you'll have to have 15% or so in the deal, plus some operating capital.When you throw the "skin in the game" number in there and your "maximum loan amount" it throws things off because that's not really how you analyze the deal. 

Then, pretend you are a bank, load the property with 5% vacancy, 5% mgt, 5% reserves and 5% other on top of current expenses and see if it'll make debt service.

Don't lie and pretend like you are helping them. 

If you don't know something, don't pretend that you do.

Many agents like to pretend they are so busy they can't return your phone calls.

Pretend that two strangers were doing the deal and document the same as you would in that situation.John Corey

Pretend you are already there.

With pretend cash flow, you're out of business.

Before driving around my local neighborhoods and practicing valuation techniques on local properties, I want to practice such techniques on my own VA-guarantee financed home that I bought last year; I'm going to pretend that I'm about to put the property up for rent and make a cash flow prediction.For my question, would it be wise for me to get my personal property appraised?

To obtain this key legally, well, as you can imagine the rest....For props that don't have MLS lockbox(combination style), I assume you could just pretend you're a realtor or whatever and obtain the code.Try it, let me know how that works for you.