Since your out of pocket with the VA program is minimal, these properties will get you much better loan paydown over time.

This will just minimize the time and effort involved with opening and managing another account.

You are giving your large asset (a house) to someone you've never met, with minimal if any down payment, ad no verification of identity.

The issue for them is time.So partnering on deals is a great way to overcome the minimal capital investment.

That would be a harder pill for me to swallow if it was a 1 BR making significantly less. 

As a novice whom may have minimal construction experience, having a knowledgeable professional on your team seems like a no brainer. 

The only thing I could find on that is through Facebook marketplace, but there are very minimal posts in any given area compared to traditional renting (which makes sense).

This will command good rents, attract great tenants, increase the length of stay, minimize your turnover costs (the cash-flow killer) and greatly increase the likelihood of holding longterm.

Which means that fixing will be minimal.

It requires you to have access to capital, to be yourself or partner with a strong borrower, and in CT you should be good at managing rental properties through renovations as this path is your best bet to force some appreciation, minimize risk, and hopefully give you some room to refinance your capital out. - Don't get too caught up in the rigid idea of rental properties.