@Jonathan Feliciano you can say this about Detroit, Columbus, St Louis and many other Midwest cities.Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.So, when investing in areas they don’t really know, investors should research the different property Class submarkets.

I chose this larger apartment because I had initially planned to rent out the spare bed + bath for $700-800/mo, but he stopped me because he 'wanted to ensure our privacy.' 

My plan is to live in the duplex for the first year as required by my loan and then rent out.   

My plan is to use FHA, 3.5% dp, seller covers closing costs. 

"letters")  as you have pictured it,  why would anyone believe you can buy their house in cash when you can't even afford a damn printer to at least TRY to come over as financially stable credible and legitimate.Yeah right?

. $2,000 is just a random number, the exact number depends on your overall tax situation.Building an ADU if you plan to rent it is business interest, not personal interest.

My wife and I are jumping in head first into a new real estate plan and I'd love some advice on how to property structure our endeavor.

The plan would be to live in that property for 3-5 yrs, pay down the mortgage, then turn it into a rental.

How do you plan on purchasing and in what area?

Best part is that they would have VA's with different experiences and budget based off how long the VA has been doing property management.Feel free to DM me if you need any help or if you have plans on scaling using VA's.