I would suggest using a hard money lender.First: It seems that time is of the essence in the home owner's case.

@Will Barnard, when estimating an ARV do you analyze the comparable homes using a appraiser worksheet for your particular area similar to the screenshot below?

Hey Bock, I recently purchased my first 3 deals using a personal LOC.

If using a different contract, does anyone have a good one that they use?

I was excited about the idea of using a VA home loan to begin my journey into REI but then learned about the one year owner-occupancy requirement. 

We're using a realtor who has been very helpful and has taught us a lot throughout this process.

Personally, I have 4 rental properties and I just use MS Excel to track expenses and income using a tab for each property. 

To keep things very simple, I’m assuming the following: Structure: SFRAsking price: $111,111Desired COCR: 10%Gross Rent: $1,000/monthFinancing terms– preferred is 70% LTV over 15 yearsIn the example below (btw...I'm using a modified version of @Brandon Turner 's 4-Square concept), I plugged in getting the property at a 10% discount and the preferred terms and can only achieve $55/month in cash flow with 2.05% COCR.If I plug in terms of 80% LYV over 30 years I can get a lot closer.If I plug in my preferred terms, and calculate my best offer, I can only pay $75,408 which is 67% of the asking price.

As far as his experience goes he purchased his first house, years later built his second and now primary residence and has been renting out the first residence since using a property management company to do so.

I use 10 to 15 years for water heater lifespan so $8/month for its cap expense when installed to code using a licensed plumber.Flooring, paint (interior and exterior), appliances, roof, fences/walls, windows, furnace/HVAC, hardscape, siding, foundations, kitchens (cabinets, counters, sinks, etc.) , bathrooms all have lifespans and all add up.