@Zoe BrennanStarting to invest in real estate is a great idea. 

I have almost zero in taxable accounts outside a savings account.

I’m able to pay cash for some houses occasionally when my savings builds up.

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. 

I’d even consider finishing the basement, just well enough for me to live down there, so I could rent out ALL the units.I’d save all my cash and look to refi the property in 1-2 years out of the FHA mortgage, so I could use it again if necessary.

Once you are in the habit of not spending so much, with no debt in a few years, you will be able to save and invest like crazy!! 

Pairing a smart lock, such as the Schlage Encode, with Hospitable saves so much time since Hospitable seamlessly automates door code management by creating unique codes for each guest reservation and then, subsequently removes the codes after the guest checks out.

From real estate investors to other small businesses, I talk to people daily who have no idea about the potential liability under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA")(47 U.S.C. 227 et seq.).There are two initial issues that can create huge problems with your suggestion.

I've got about 7k in an emergency savings account.I am in the process of getting several mortgage pre-approvals to compare fees and get an idea of how much home I can realistically afford.I have yet to find a buyer's agent/investor to help me identify potential homes but will start on that shortly.Ideally, I would like to buy a single family home.

Contrary to popular belief on these forums, a GOOD PM will save you money and headaches, not the other way around.