I am beginning with poor credit and little to no disposable income.

The electric water heaters are designed to basically disposable after their warranty period.

Let's call it what it is, an albatross that should be disposed of in this and future discussion....and then we can all move forward.  

My wife has a source of passive income that's not insignificant and any additional income she would make from working is pretty much disposable income.   

And we change our minds often of how to dispose of a property.

This is a great community... and as a service member, you have some great tools at your disposal for getting started in RE investing.

Get rid of water filters and sink disposals and ice makers when you can.

Update stuff at turnovers and then at the end when you go to dispose of it and sell it... remodel it to reflect current market trends.. or do it when the market is down and people are desperate for work...

I'm brand new to this & do not really have a network of investors at my disposal.

Not in the US with Corporate law, that's how we get things like 30 yrs of intentional dumping of wildly toxic waste ins ay, a pond, because the fines are cheaper than proper disposal.