From where I sit, I see tight inventory, very little construction, an incredibly unfavorable political climate for developers (thus not much hope for relief from the supply-side) and enormous demand from not only local residents but also from much higher priced neighboring counties (who actually see our astronomical prices as a bargain, imagine that!).

Unfortunately, there are many uneducated loan officers that don't understand VA lending, or may have overlays or unfavorable guidelines, and may direct you into another product in their best interests, and not yours.

Yes, the layout is unfavorable, but we are not planning to tear out any walls at this point.

You're right, the lead in question (and his team) set pretty unfavorable terms, but I now know that Brad personally doesn't believe in excessive lead compensation.   

If you are asked for a reference and you provide anything that can be construed as unfavorable and it is perceived that they were unable to rent because of that reference, you open yourself up to liability may very well be sued!

I definitely will have to buy Cash since getting a mortage as a non-resident is complicated and interest rates unfavorable.

In real estate, every aspect of any niches are risking to the lenders or the banks who are providing sourcing and may be difficult to get lending or get unfavorable interest rates.

Living in TX, with high property tax, the new tax law maxing out the state and local tax deductions (in this case property tax) @ $10k will impact me (unfavorably)..so home ownership loses some of its long standing tax perks.  

I have a ton of equity in my current home...and when I applied for a HELOC they said my "debt to income ratio was unfavorable". 

You probably need to talk to the tax advisor first because I have seen an attorney set up entities that need to be scratch because of the unfavorable tax consequences.