I use Cozy, they partner with a site (I believe an Experian offshoot) to run background and credit checks.

As far as capital to get started, after you've exhausted the VA loan, the typical and common answer for a primary residence is a 20% down payment with a credit score and cash reserves good enough to qualify for a mortgage.

I also just wanted to let you know for the sake of your calculations, I'm a loan officer and (depending on your credit) even with a 15 year note, you'd be lucky to find a 4.25% mortgage on a regular sfr with no points nowadays, let alone a jumbo loan like this would be.

Do you run background/credit checks? 

It was super helpful and helped me identify several actionable things I could be doing to make my meetups significantly more productive.

Worst case they hit your credit w a collection, which won’t hurt it more than 10-15 points.

Prices are high but if you find an income producing product you'll be fine.

Landlord 411 or the small developers cooperative are two examples in the Baltimore area.It amazes me how investors are so ignorant of  how many stupid counter productive laws get proposed.

Please find local real estate meetups that are run by folks that are not pitching the same old products but rather focus on providing education and networking.

If you want to be an investor, despite the no money down stories, you will need capital/credit or someones else's to get started.