I would lock at pockets of properties near the schools, the medical center, airport, etc. 

My particular interest is knowing if an LLC is required for using the funds for non-debt investments. 

If you typed in the cities - people with those cities in their keyword alerts would come to this post and look to help you out.Biggerpockets also has a local market section - here is a link to the Idaho sectionhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/555-idaho-rea...There are different tax strategies for owner-occupant investors(section 121) and non-owner occupants(1031 exchange).

this option fee is NON refundable - i would recommend 3-5% of the purchase price -  if they currently have a security deposit (which i assume they would) then you can also convert that to part of their option fee when you redo the contract / agreement with them. 

@Andrew Dodds, the way I read what Amber and Chris wrote, you could treat your $181k remaining VA entitlement as if it was a HELOC (like having existing equity), which should more than cover the required deposit that you might need for your next $500k home.Of course, your Non-VA Lender will go through your Debt-To-Income Ratio with a fine tooth comb, so depending on how much Rent they allow you to allocate towards your income, you could be good to go!

Although you can certainly elect to treat a husband-wife partnership as a disregarded entity, you also have the option to file a partnership return in non-community property states like Maryland so that way the income is reported on your K-1 on Schedule E, Part II rather than Schedule E, Part I if this is important to you.

I doubt that it's enough time to make all repairs, get the appraisal and we get processed for a non-recourse loan (we are pre-approved). 

There is VERY little defense to a non-payment eviction. 

I know of a lender that has programs catered specifically to non-owner occupied properties for real estate investors like yourself.

Such a partnership sounds worthy of launching a formal contract to define non-performance and to make their promised reimbursement policy enforceable.