If you elect to use a VA loan, that typically means you don't plan to put any money down.

Purchase price: $424,500 Cash invested: $20,640 I purchased a small detached duplex that I plan on moving into one and keep the other as a rental.

I plan to use two of the bedrooms for Airbnb short-term rentals.

I plan to buy one or two more properties with the $200k, but then I will be out of capital.

Congrats on your pre-approval and your plan to make Florida your primary residence while leveraging house hacking or short-term rentals (STRs).

If you can get a loan and live roughly for free then I would if I planned to stay in th community.  

I am planning on doing a flip or a build in Phoenix in the next one to two years.

Unfortunately, while there are other methods to acquire investment properties, the reality is you need cash and reserves to plan and set up your investment portfolio accordingly. 

Quote from @Tom Enright: Hi Forum, I'm about to close on my first STR and plan on materially participating >100 hours this year as I'll be working on the property and plan to rent it the last 1-2 months of the year.

Cash out: $55,000All money out plus roughly $3,500 in pocket.... principal and interest $767/monthCash flow estimated at roughly: $200/monthMy plan would be to refi around year 4 or so before the adjustable rate kicks in.