I do hope this works out better than it looks though for everyone involved Like Chris C mentioned in his post we do need all the facts.

It was easy to do on the lot I did it on as it was subdivided in the 1980s and was grandfathered in under the rules for then.

@Steve Babiak, unless he registered with Pennsylvania as a contractor, he would not show up on there, the company as the OP stated is from NJ where he would be registered. he should be registered in PA if he is doing work there, so i agree, he should have shown up on those sites, i am a contractor in NJ but do not do work in PA, not even my own properties, so i do not show up on those sites.

You need to work with a property manager that has experience with this, unless you plan on doing it yourself.

2) If you do owner-occupied cashout refi for best rate, you technically have to live in the home for 12 months before renting it out. * Some responders here may suggest not worrying about that and renting it out anyways.

It can be a very good market, but the why behind your choice may help us give you better advice on how to move forward.Before realtors and property managers, you really need to meet other investors so you are making a good move by trying to do that here, but it would be better if you could do it in person.

Being new I would suggest started with existing builds but building small multifamily in a small town with a rental shortage could be a smart move (someone's gotta do it).

That's all you can realistically, efficiently do!

You likely only made a down payment of 3-20% ....but you still get to write it off on the full value across 27.5 years.So 400k/27.5 = 14,000 ish a year of a write off where during the year you didn't need to incur an actual expense, no cash outflow. 

If you can brand yourself as someone with a strong track record of getting VA buyers to the closing table efficiently, realtors will take notice and vouch for you and your clients as offers are submitted and this will show tremendous value to borrower clients.