I'm recently licensed and I've done $8-9mil in transactions and building houses and I was able to use that to get a few to talk to me at least and the others essentially told me to F off politely.I would see if anyone in your personal network has a broker license--lawyers, CPA's etc or go the online brokerage route and train yourself.

I need a contract that will allow me to include all of the terms of the deal but also has all the essential exit clauses of a typical wholesale deal.

The defects must be serious and directly related to the tenant’s health and safety.103 2.

Essentially that is the whole market, except the Westside of Portland IMO. 

I would like to use my VA loan this time around since I have to move to the area for work anyways (so safety for family is a concern) but there just seem to be a lack of a multi-family available all together much less a deal that would fit the VA criteria.

That could essentially buy you a $100k property every single year, furthering your snowball process.My reco would be to read the "ultimate beginners guide" (found under "education" tab on this website) and start learning the basics of buy and hold investing.  

I got my friend's building complete on time and on budget about a year ago, and then completed a couple tenant improvements for him.I thought I would have an advantage starting my own business up here because I felt the customer service, quality of work, and attention to safety of the contractor's here was below what I was used to.  

We made the unfortunate mistake of helping others, which essentially screwed us over.

Knowing your target area is essential and not something you can do with a few superficial conversations with people.

Usually they have several code violations which are significant safety issues- the biggest usually being a lack of fire protection between units.