When you gain some equity, you can refinance the VA loan into a conventional and go purchase a new owner occupied property using you VA benefit. 

More tenants to deal with, more items to break/repair in the quad then the duplex.So for me to choose the quad I would desire it to have close to twice the benefit of the duplex (i.e. twice as much cash flow and/or twice as much equity gain). 

. :)One more question - I understand that I can write off losses from one of the property against gains from another rental property.

Hold 2 years, 1031 out, and defer all gains.

I also purchased some bank notes several years ago and got a great rate on them, right up until the bank exercised their right to re-purchase them (as per the small print) and I got hit with capital gains that year as well as scrambling to find somewhere else to put the funds.  

My wife, Mai See, is currently a stay-at-home mother but has also gained an interest in real estate investing.

I started as an entry level loan administrator in a bank like this and was able to move around to other departments and really gained an understanding of the whole business.

I am wholesaler investor looking for buyers when I post them on this websitefor Maryland , Washington D C, Virginia .

If you are new to investing then turnkey is a good way to gain some experience, learn a market, and make some connections.

As an investor trying to gain a clearer picture of what I should be looking for when analyzing a property, what creative/obvious ways could I offset those costs?