Without a broker who specializes in your property type, you may be leaving a lot of chips on the table.  

Also, at what point does a contractor / job size qualify for getting your contract?

They operate in that size apartment complex niche.

The 480k was the exact same model as mine and size, the 540 was with a pool i believe...I am considering either a HELOC vs cash out refinance to fund my first rehab deal rather than offset savings.

Further, knowing the size of the >6 prop hit you may be looking at, and what middle management makes, they actually couldn't take a large enough pay cut to make it work, they'd have to forego their compensation not only on these 7 loans, but also another 15 or so. 

In certain locations, the VA allows a higher amount (remember the entitlement amount is based off the county you are buying the new home in as well as unit size; there's different amounts for SFH's, duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes).  

What size is it (1 car, 2 car etc....?). 

@Henry CentolaI got a quote from Cape Cod 5 for something that was similarly sized to what you're looking for.

Have coffee at the kitchen table, and explain the benefits for them selling to you directly. 

Plus, you are probably talking $1,500,000 to 2,000,000 purchase price to buy a 20 door apartment with $300,000 to $400,000 down... so while I imagine that thought was just conceptual... start small... 1 property... maybe it has 1-4 doors... its often more about what you can find, that is at a good price, that you can afford, that will rent the best.We are at 40 doors in 3 years, and it's a number we have been trying to hover at, because it is a size we can self manage, and that is what we are trying to do for the moment.