I would buy a property that needs a little bit of work, and then use a hard-money loan to pay for the property and the repairs.

Original Purchase Price$305,000Down Payment$28,793Closing Costs$11,527Rehab Costs$80,500Mortgage Costs$30,056Utilities$1,275Taxes$2,729Insurance$1,251STR Furnishing$10,142Total Costs$125,953LTR Income$7,000Net STR Income$21,234Total Income$28,234Total Capital Invested$109,246Appraised Value$540,000Loan LTV%70%Loan Amount$378,000Mortgage Balance$325,148Closing Costs$9,805Cash out$43,047Net Capital Invested$66,199Starting Equity$133,207Value Created: $67,008Hours Worked: 595Hourly Wage: $113I was only able to refi at 70% LTV, so I left $66k in the deal.

I like to keep track of student successes. 

A lot of people chase cash flow, but the reality is that even if you just break even while renting it, you'll still be making money through appreciation, depreciation, and loan paydown.

You can use rental income from other units to qualify for a bigger loan amount => higher purchase price.Hard to find in decent areas, so you'll be tempted to buy in Class C or even D areas.

The loan was originally $25k.

Affordability..are you approved for a loan (what type) does lender know you are looking at condos?

The current property has a VA loan with a pretty great interest rate (2.375%). 

Most realtors can not get much loan due to nature of his un-predicable income as 1099 and have terrible credit score issues.

I have one myself that I funded after selling my SF home and once I set up my policy, I took a low, simple interest (5.5% for me) loan that I then used to purchase a 4 unit MF; now I'm using it to fund the renovations.