I was fortunate enough to receive a gift of equity on this property to cover the down payment and my mortgage is around 168k.

So like an employee would get a W2 that summarizes their income and taxes taken out, a 1099 is a statement of income, but typically with NO taxes taken out - just a straight payment amount.

In order to execute effectively, operators will want to validate the path to permit is strait forward and reliable at closing or within 30 days of closing.

There are some areas outside of those few towns you mentioned, Portsmouth, Durham and Salem, where you will need quite a bit less for a down payment to get started, but they might not be areas that are super desirable for you to live. 

google lolDebt service coverage ratio (DSCR): The DSCR is a financial metric that compares the property's net operating income (NOI) to the loan payments.

Don’t make car/house payments or utilities.

I'm prepared to make a down payment of around $70,000, and without factoring in rental income, I can qualify for properties priced between $650,000 and $700,000.

(Max vacated rents - your monthly mortgage payment) = +/- net cashflow.

I have a pretty reliable Masonry that I use I can send over his information. 

Location: Chesapeake, VA (large military town) Market Value: $360,000Loan Balance: $245,000Equity/Second position note: $115,000 (30 30-year amortization / 10-year Balloon Payment, 6.5% Interest, $727 monthly payment) - Bringing cash for this would save a ton of money for the buyer.Rate: 2.25%Years Left: 26Current Monthly payment: $1,300 (including taxes/insurance)Current Rent: $2,000Scenario 1: -If you were to purchase with a new VA loan at 7% interest at market value your monthly PITI would be approx.: $2,757-If you were to assume the loan and I carried the second note at the above terms your monthly PITI would be: $2,027Saving: $8,760 per year.Scenario 2:-If you were to bring the same $115,000 as a down payment on a conventional loan you would pay: $1,992-If you were to assume the loan and bring cash for equity position your monthly PITI would be: $1,300Saving: $8,304 (with no need to refi in the future)Since this is a hypothetical situation I'm going to give my number based on nat. average homeownership of 13.2 years.