I don't want to begrudge an agent their due; neither do I want to paint myself into a corner for the year if things don't work out.

Electrical has been our biggest expense by far as it's labor intensive.

I think your approach to purchasing a condo downtown using your VA loan could work out well; I did the same with a SFH in Clarksville and house hacked it for a period and walked away with a good ROI. 

After my refinance, the numbers roughly work out to a savings of $450 a month and my mortgage now is just over $1k a month.

You should expect to work out the kinks (people and resources) when you are investing out of your area. 

But their plans don't always work out. 

As long as you abide by their policy of one year occupancy and "upgrade" your living situation, you would be able to get a second property under it (assuming your numbers all work out).

@Puri Indah, You and your accountant will work out a reasonable allocation of starting basis in that property. 

A little back story of myself, I work out of town.

I'd go with shorter leases (like month to month) so if it doesn't work out for one reason or the other, you can get rid of them pretty easy.Best of luckStephanie