They both need dry wall, flooring, cabinets, plumbing, Windows, paint and garbage cleaned out.

Congrats on pulling the trigger girl , I have my opinions on this subject , but a congrats is in order on moving forward , hopefully it all works out !!!

My first year of investing and I now own 10 properties triggered* 

Of course this is one side and like others have mentioned you have to do the full due-diligence before you pull any triggers.

Maintain your goal to purchase Late'17/Early'18 but also be prepared to pull the trigger if something great comes up sooner than expected.  

Here's some thoughts.Exceptions to the timelines - None but it is the closing dates that trigger the clock and can't overlap so only the closing of the sale must happen before the closing of the purchase.  

And where talking to the lender may work out, it may also fail by triggering the due on sale. 

I too work for the family business in CA...our family business is RE investing and I purchase out of state properties and have PM companies manage them for me...I stopped acquiring properties 3 years ago when cash flow dried up in many markets...buy a duplex with your VA loan?

I understand that note buyers like getting nice double digit yields plus kickers on notes, but at this point I am more concerned about learning the business by doing and building relationships rather than maximizing profit.I have been listening to a lot of podcasts on notes and got quite a lot out of this post- https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/70/topics/411915-where-to-find-education-on-notesI’ve checked out some of the paid and unpaid educational stuff listed here, but I think all of them end with the same advice- Find a JV Partner and pull the trigger.

@Chris Baker  There is a water heater pipe which has asbestos and apparently the dry wall had some in it as well.