I'm trying to us my VA loan in conjunction with the VA For alteration and Repair Loan.

  - Generate $5k in monthly income within the 5 years.My ultimate goal is to create a portfolio of cash flow positive real estate investments to:- Help my father retire so that he can travel with my mother, enjoy life, and discover new hobbies and passions.- Allow me to make jewelry because it's my passion, not my passion that pays the bills- Free up my time to pursue travel and my interest in martial arts. 

Might end up going for a live in flip but we will see where life takes me on that one.

Have you ever thought about retiring early, traveling, and living your best life now?

I've heard rumor of it's existence but haven't had any luck finding one in real life (and I've called at least 15 banks & credit unions).

We are trying to mesh our investing with our retirement plan and just need to have someone who can look over the big picture and help guide us.We have worked with 2 financial advisors so far and have been steered to whole life policies and investing in the market.

I am having so much fun thinking about the investment potential in RE and the possibilities for creating a life of increased wealth, time, and flexibility.

No one knows but assuming you have numerous units, not just a single SFH, positive cash flow and reserves being leveraged or not is relatively unimportant.

That would leave me with no where to live though so I would have to find another property.I could use an FHA loan but I don't like the idea of PMI for the life of the loan.

If you run into trouble in the future you could lose all 4 properties.Instead, I'd see if each seller would let you take over the mortgage, pay the owner their equity and they move on with life.