Assuming you are not a tax attorney and have little-to-no accounting skills, you should not do the bookkeeping for four reasons: (1) a CPA will have in depth and technical knowledge of GAAP and accounting best practices (the same you do with the law).

Haven’t run the numbers or analyzed in depth.  

Intel is a great example, who is building the largest chip manufacturing plant in the US right here, and it will be a $20 billion dollar investment that brings a few new thousand jobs.https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2022/01/21/intel-ohio-building-computer-chip-factories-licking-county-jersey-township/9173472002/ Another example of economic growth is the upcoming Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Inpatient Hospital which is a 1.9million square foot hospital that will bring over 800 new beds and a thousand new jobs. https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/new-osu-hospital-expected-to-transform-health-careHere are a few more recent investments https://www.10tv.com/article/money/business/hydrogen-power-company-hyperion-bringing-700-jobs-to-columbus/530-25907aab-5517-4661-a9f3-d2ed2d5be6b0 https://news.wosu.org/news/2022-02-08/rumpke-to-build-50-million-recycling-facility-in-columbus Check out The Complete Guide to the Columbus, Ohio Real Estate Market which goes through the Columbus, Ohio market in depth and will give you a better scope of where the highest levels of growth are taking place and where to look to invest.

Intel is a great example, who is building the largest chip manufacturing plant in the US right here, and it will be a $20 billion dollar investment that brings a few new thousand jobs.https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2022/01/21/intel-ohio-building-computer-chip-factories-licking-county-jersey-township/9173472002/ Another example of economic growth is the upcoming Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Inpatient Hospital which is a 1.9million square foot hospital that will bring over 800 new beds and a thousand new jobs. https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/new-osu-hospital-expected-to-transform-health-careHere are a few more recent investments https://www.10tv.com/article/money/business/hydrogen-power-company-hyperion-bringing-700-jobs-to-columbus/530-25907aab-5517-4661-a9f3-d2ed2d5be6b0 https://news.wosu.org/news/2022-02-08/rumpke-to-build-50-million-recycling-facility-in-columbus Check out The Complete Guide to the Columbus, Ohio Real Estate Market which goes through the Columbus, Ohio market in depth and will give you a better scope of where the highest levels of growth are taking place and where to look to invest.  

I'm meeting with him next week to discuss more in depth about that he's really looking to do.

Michael, great response to an in depth question.

Here’s an article that goes in depth on the rules: https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2017/mar/navigating-real-estate-professional-rules.htmlHere’s an excerpt: Steps to Qualify as a Real Estate ProfessionalThe following steps should be followed to determine whether a taxpayer first qualifies as a real estate professional, and if so, whether the taxpayer's rental activities are nonpassive:Step 1: Identify and group the taxpayer's real property trades or businesses.Step 2: Identify the taxpayer's real property trades or businesses in which the taxpayer material participates.Step 3: Total the hours of participation in those real property trades or businesses in which the taxpayer materially participates.

@Gabe SalingerLots of great advice on this thread, and I wholeheartedly agree with @Tim LockhartYou're in the perfect position to use your VA loan, live in the home for the 1.5 years that you'll be in Wichita Falls, and with the home prices in Wichita Falls you may very well still have enough VA loan entitlement remaining to purchase another home with the VA loan once you get to your next duty station.I used this same strategy (purchase primary residence at each duty station and then convert to a rental when it was time to PCS) during my 13 years in the military, which allowed me to build a small, but very stable, portfolio of rental properties.Happy to chat if you'd like to talk about the strategy more in-depth.

He can explain more in depth types of costs, potential risks,etc. 

You can get very in-depth answers on both platforms especially from experienced investors.