Buying multiple VA homes in the same town is complex, unless you can refinance into a conventional with the first property. 

@David Niu You mentioned in your first post, that you were going to get a conventional loan with only 5% down.

Last month it dropped another 10 points  after a lender approved me for a conventional loan on an investment property. 

Assuming it needs work and wouldn't qualify for conventional financing a hard money lender is probably your best option then refinance once you pass the seasoning period.

So I just recently purchased my first investment property, and during the process, the mortgage lender was trying to nudge me into getting the loan as a secondary residence (stuff like: "You'll get a lower rate, you c...

ie if I’m on title with a partner but not on the hook for the mortgage it counts against my 10 conventional loan limit?

I’m planning to do a conventional loan.

The hard money lender is going to want to know what your exit strategy is for refinancing after 6 months.It sounds like this would not be an opinion for you.My recommendation would be seeing if it can go conventional so you can leverage one of the products that allows you to house hack and put a low downpayment.I am also based in Columbus, Ohio

We also have a wonderful convention center. 

If I plan to get conventional bank financing, would I still need a realtor in this transaction?