And clearly my comment hit a nerve and sent the discussion in the wrong direction  

It was nerve-racking to put this house on credit cards and it dropped my score significantly until we refinanced.

I would recommend asking for referrals, and don’t just call on the phone - drive by the sites, talk to the property owners, and examine the work that was done.I would also encourage you to ask him if this is his standard way of doing business, or is his upfront money request based on the relatively small cost of the job.

A few thousand in consulting legal fees can really open your eyes to what the process will be and how long/much it will take.Providing you examples to what would comply probably is prohibited in the city permit examiner employee's job description (practicing law), a city will generally hand you a document, but they are not going to give legal advice.

They are not going to look back at an old loan to examine benefit of a co-signer.Your best bet would be to use the CE to buy your VA home. 

However and as much as I want to start investing and using guidance could decrease my insecurity, I would like to be able to examine myself the proposition they give me, to realy be able to use my own judgement.for that I need knowledge. but there is so much information (!)

I was happy to see Cozy come right out and try and set nerves at ease.

This is guru-talk to sooth the nerves of people who suspect it's hard to raise money - and are right.  

This will require constant inspections and steel nerves.

Its nerve racking spending that money but I guess as long as it rents well there shouldn't be an issue.