Use tools like the VA loan for house hacking and your Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to cover living costs while building equity.

Looking at some rough quotes, they start at $30 a month apparently and you can cover things like HVAC, plumbing etc...  

Which BTW most of our closings are subject-to the existing financing, so we have little cash into the deal, just the arears and the closing costs.You find NOD and pre-notice via;   realtytrac.com / equitydepot.net (if they cover your area). 

For now, it Looks like your roommate/tenant can cover half of your mortgage (plus hoa fees). 

To deter the break-ins you need to have window coverings on all the windows, a light on and not advertise that the unit is vacant.

Lease Terms: Determine a monthly rent payment that covers the HELOC repayment (interest and principal) while providing some positive cash flow for you.                    

Can try to reposition to Class B, but neighborhood may impede these efforts.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, but 15-20% should be used to also cover tenant nonpayment, eviction costs & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores of 560-620 (approaching 22% probability of default), many blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 2 years.

If you are skilled in each of the areas above, and you have enough in reserves to cover the costs of when things do not go as planned, then you can likely attract money from private money lenders who want to get a return on their money and they see lending to you as a low risk way of earning a better return than in the other passive investing options they have. 

This just covers the basics: how many people, do they have pets, what is their timeline for moving?

Flips have done good not great, Air Bnbs are going good not great, and rentals all were brrrr'd perfectly but like most cash flow just enough to pay the bills and cover expenses.