But based off the books I've been reading, such as J.

In addition, working with you small client base could have other leads as well as testimonials for your website/ landing page. 

I’m playing the long game so cash flow is not a huge deal in the near future.

Would not Filing be the best LONG TERM play?

David Greene wrote "Long Distance Real Estate Investing" which gives you a great tutorial, but I suggest looking at deals in the Midwest or the Southeast to allow your portfolio to get a good base of cash flow, and then once you are ready for some more appreciation focused deals, you can change your target markets.

Additionally, I am willing to live in one of the units for a year.My long-term vision is to buy everyone out and eventually own the property entirely.What are some common deal structures I can explore based on my contributions and end goal?

I've called some companies and it seems like the price varies somewhere between 10-20k to move one, based on a number of different variables.

I'm trying to figure out the sweet spot between utilizing the space to expand my client base, while also not sounding too, spam/sales-y.

just be cautious when it comes to using these. ensure you've got a plan to pay that balance back in a relatively quick fashion as most HELOC rates can fluctuate which could make the numbers suddenly not work. i've leveraged mine in instances where i'm doing a BRRR and i want the deposit for a private money loan. i'm not using it as my downpayment and leaving it out there for a long period of time. 

There are some restrictions for trying to use VA benefits on a second property based off the entitlement.