I spoke with the seller and got information about the house that is different from what I found in public records.

I had to change insurance companies, raise the rent and I used a company called Ownwell to help reduce my property tax.

What should I be careful about compared to buying an existing property, and are there any key differences? 

Again, these are two different.

Can I pay the management company I set up a mgmt fee?

Like Ben mentioned, there are different factors to determine who in this scenario would have capital gain, and the amount if there's depreciation, and if any qualify for the primary residence exclusion. 

Ok now that makes a difference.

You can get the rest of their entitlement by multiplying it by 4$100,250 * 4 = $401,000They can buy a house up to $401K and still use 100% of VA entitlementsBonus: If they want to buy a more expensive home, they have to put 25% down on the difference of the home and the entitlementExample: Seller wants to buy a $601,000 house$601,000 - $401,000 = $200,000 (difference)Down payment = $200,000 * 25% = $50K% down on home = $50K/ $600K = 8.3% down payment

I decided that quick success would require a totally different approach.So, I took the required courses and passed the Texas Brokers exam.

Great to meet different owners in the area.