I may have the opportunity to assume someone's VA loan, @ 2.5%.

Even for just one type of loan, each lender has can have their own index and spread.

Loan to value ratio: The higher the loan to value ratio (LTV) is, pricing takes a hit.

I'd like to loan around $25k to start, but I'm undecided on loan terms, so any guidance in that area would be great.

During that 1-2 years, you have had loan buy down and hopefully appreciation in both property value and rent.

Longhorn Investments has been doing it for 15 years (>7500 closed loans). 

I have my first property under contract and my loan officer has been working with me for a couple weeks. 

We need to secure loans/mortgages externally in order to get started so wondering if we should start a company/partnership or if it’s best to do this as individuals.

hard money lenders generally specialize in loaning on distressed properties and including the rehab in the loan. 

When you are going to be living in one of the units you can use a low money down loan with a down payment of 3.5-5% down and live in the building for one year and then if you’ve saved enough for another down payment you can then put another 3.5-5% down on the next building and live there for a year and keep doing this year after year and build up a nice portfolio this way.