Pretend to be a renter for a weekend and go check out competing units BEFORE you even list yours to see what the competion really is.  

I won't pretend to be an expert on all of the intricacies of VA lending but you should ask a VA lending specialist about second-tier entitlements.  

Eventually once I have a pretty consistent cash flow coming in, I will begin to invest in some rental properties.I do not know everything about real estate and I wont pretend that I do either, however, I do have some business knowledge and I plan on treating this like a business. 

All "squatters" are not those walking on your land.Some do so by posting false or fraudulent liens in the property files of your County Clerk's land office.The majority of liens posted in many counties relative to "securitized mortgages" are questionable, if not fraudulent.Question the "squatters' rights" of any "interloper" to real estate closings where "pretender lenders" have insinuated themselves into closings concerning your homes.If your closing documents refer to MERS, or if "mortgage servicers" have filed "robo-signed" liens on your property, now is the time to take personal action to eliminate false claims against your interests.Send Truth In Lending Act (TILA) Rescission Letters to any and all who have at any time claimed an interest in your property... including the "pretender lenders", especially if they are the Too Big To Fail (TBTF) banks, MERS, and mortgage servicers like Ocwen or the TBTF banks own collections arms.These fraudulent liens (used to file wrongful foreclosures), create probable title clouds that are likely to permit previous homeowners to reclaim their properties from unwitting "investors".This reality is exactly why I will not acquire properties at foreclosure sales.... and why I seek farmland uncluttered by the Financial Crisis mess.There's more, but this link may open some eyes.https://deadlyclear.wordpress.com/2016/07/27/about-those-1099-and-other-tax-filings-from-servicers-and-banks/

I make roughly 65k a year and have been saving for 2 years with about 20k to my name and am tired of living mediocre and want to invest into rental properties but am a total rookie and I will not pretend otherwise.

Go there a few times just observe and pretend you want to bid on them.

The folks who enforce these things (if bandit signs are illegal in your area) will call you pretending to be potential clients/targets and eventually in your discussions or meetings you will identify yourself.Guess what happens next?

@Shema TurnerI'm going to pretend I know what I'm talking about for a second :-)Net operating income is your operating income minus operating expenses.For example, your operating income is the total that you bring in from your property, minus everything you spend holding and running the property (i.e. mortgage, taxes, insurance, electric, maintenance, etc etc).

When I contacted them (pretending to be a prospective tenant) they went through this whole spiel trying to collect sensitive information.

You have a lot of pretenders out there wanting you to buy their book and pay for coaching sessions when all I need is someone to just spend one day with out in the field.