I am now transitioning to prepare for automated transportation.

Most of the residents look like millennials and young professionals, and they've seen my place transition from something quite unsightly into a very nice place.

Make an offer, explain your reasoning for that number, and you will be surprised how many sellers want to have a conversation with you- especially in this transitioning market. 

We've been preparing for this as of September of 2021, ultimately transitioning our single-family management clients to MTR (medium term rentals)/executive stay/furnished rentals where appropriate.All of our focus has been re-directed toward other markets, specifically the Poconos region as @Matthew Niemynski had shared, wherein, your purchasing power will take you a lot further, and the returns will be more aggressive with a year-round vacation destination. 

If you just do one four- or five-year stint, then you can at least pick up two or maybe three homes with the VA loan as you transition out of the service.

You might also start networking with other real estate investors and learning as much as you can about different investment strategies and approaches.Transitioning to full-time investing: Eventually, if your goal is to build a real estate portfolio, you may need to transition away from your full-time job in real estate acquisitions.

Once you know if you like it or not and have a chance to put your system together, you can transition out of Arbitrage, or for us, we have continued with Arbitrage, and have used the cash to purchase more units and move towards ownership and vertical integration.  

We want a smooth transition and no late rent, so I'm hoping with careful planning we can prepare for this.

I would be more than happy to help you with you transition and your investment plans.

That is false you can buy it use it then transition it into a rental because you have that right.