Would love to conenct to hear more about the specifics and try to point you in the right direction. 

Engage in social networking with other investors, both locally and virtually, and investigate innovative funding alternatives such as VA loans, FHA loans, or other government-supported schemes.

I appreciate you sharing some specifics on the risks with a real life example ( I have not been paying attention to that detail, so that is good education for me).I do get the idea that if it's a good year, I am missing out on good TSP compounding due to a loan for real estate. 

Can you provide more details on the specific tasks you wouldn't do?

I'm not interested in seller financing as an alternative because I'm an introvert and not very good at sales.

If legal, is there anything specific that I need to include in the agreement other than the sale date and sale price to make it ironclad ?

I wont disagree but you may find that PMI is worth it to get into a specific deal potentially. 

Take a look at BP's blog where new articles are published every day: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog4.Check out the BP Podcasts: https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast5.If you want to network or ask specific questions about your local market, go to your local real estate forum and connect with investors from your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/86-local-real-estate-networking6.

More specifically, my questions would be:What type of account(s) do I put the money I save for maintenance, vacancy, capital expenditures, etc. into?

If you provide the specifics, timelines, gain, etc, @Dave Foster can give you a detailed answer.