Fiance has very little desire to share space with tenants, so it looks like we'll be doing SFHs as opposed to multi-families (though I still have hope I can convince her to try it for the first property, but let's assume it's not going to happen).Tentative Plan:-Buy a SFH for $150,000-$200,000 in Phoenix area with a VA loan ($0 down), live in it for 2 years while aggressively forcing appreciation as much as possible, have one or more kids-Buy second SFH for $200,000-$250,000 in Phoenix area (upgrade reason: more space for kids) with another VA loan ($0 down) using remaining entitlement, rent out first SFH, live in this one for 1-2 years while aggressively forcing as much appreciation as possible-Buy third SFH for $200,000-$250,000 with an FHA loan (3.5-5% down), rent out second SFH, live in this one for 1-2 years, not going to try to force appreciation too much right away but instead will spend more time and money building equity in the first two houses-Refinance both VA loans into conventional loans once I have 25%+ equity in both, use the "one time restoration of entitlement" to free up all my entitlement again, rent out third SFH, buy permanent primary residence for as much as I can afford at the time (but not more than the VA maximum) with a VA loan ($0 down) for my now large family to live in forever-Aggressively force appreciation and build equity in third SFH until I can refinance that one into a conventional loan as well to get rid of PMI, then continue on from thereSo, my main concern is affording the second SFH without the necessary two years of landlording experience.

I would certainly double-check this since FHA loans from years past had PMI end sooner (now it is permanent) so please check your mortgage statement or call your mortgage holder to learn how much your PMI is and when it will go away (if it ever will). 

@Andrew MichaelActually, there are hard money lenders that offer permanent financing. 

They are in the process of getting permanent residency at the moment with their interviews coming up in the next few weeks.

Additionally you will have to migrate all of the information from the temporary solution to the permanent, which may not be a trivial task.  

I have one older property (my original house) that has a rent/price ratio 1.12% and rent/ft2 ratio of $0.96/ft2 (this property does attract a lower quality of tenant, something we are moving away from with our new builds).I am able to build the properties such that my permanent financing @ 75% LTV allow me to leave no significant cash in the project, due to built in equity.  

I don't see how you can combine any of the three very well unless you are AirBnBing unti you find a permanent tenant (if you can get permission from the Marina after waiting in line). 

Based on these factors, you will not be able to get 75% LTV permanent financing.

Plan ahead to avoid costly late fees.Eviction will be filed on you immediately.When you are evicted, it goes on your permanent record, and it will be extremely difficult to find another home to rent.When you are evicted, you are billed for our attorney's costs.When you are evicted, you create a substantial monetary judgment against you, which if remains unpaid is sent to a collection agency and affects your credit and credibility.PoliciesYour lease outlines our policies in detail, so please be sure to become familiar with them to avoid a phone call or worse, termination of your tenancy.

Once the property has been stabilized with a tenant in place, you can refinance into permanent financing.