Determine at what percentage of completion you'll pay for work done. i.e.

Now, you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them.

One year ago, I was hired to help a landlord whose tenant had stopped paying.

that we’ve learned in our 24 years, managing almost 700 doors across the Metro Detroit area, including almost 100 S8 leases:Class A Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+ (roughly 5% probability of default), zero evictions in last 7 years.Class B Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680 (around 10% probability of default), some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 yearsClass C Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, high cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation.

. - Minimum work history: 1 year (please provide references and pay stubs for the past 3 months; if self-employed we can discuss alternatives to paystubs)

My portfolio is not that large and it irked me to pay a bookkeeper so much and still have to do a lot of the work.

They pay their bills on time and make good tenants.

He knows the loan will pay and they won't default because he knows they're solid. 

Since you’ll be saving your own living expenses by living in one of the units as required by the VA (to the best of my knowledge.) pretend you are paying rent and it should make your numbers look much better. 

My thought is to use a HELOC for the down payment on a new property (20% down), then once I acquire it, do a cash-out refinance to pay off the HELOC while keeping my original low rate intact.