Long term rental hold. 20+ years.In Texas, 2 story house with plywood upstairs. 

Also, as mentioned above, this is a great way to start building relationships with small local credit unions and banks which offer the best loan products for investors. 

Build your credit today so that you can qualify for a loan.

It's a huge windfall to be able to do that with a VA loan.

Hello Everyone, My wife and I are trying to use the VA loan but probably don't make enough to meet the mortgage.

@Nick LongI think you're overcomplicating this... if it's a fixer, once it's rehabbed, just refinance it into either a conventional investment loan, or a DSCR loan.DSCR loans don't have the 12-month clock - you can usually refinance 90-180 days after purchase.  

This is an engineer/architect/ building dept questionOnce the rehab is complete would you be able to refi the debt all in one loan?

Thanks @Henry Clark - Our short term goal is to have a nice place for vacation, make a few dollars, and serve as a jumping-off point as we explore becoming part of the expat community in a few years. 

You'll get the most favorable financing terms and offset your housing expense while paying principle.

.- Underwrite the property to breakeven or small positive cash flow as a standalone long-term rental to a single tenant.