For example, if, in an 18 hour waking period, you spend 2 hours snooping through the AirBNB, writing down the makes and models of appliances, figuring out the distribution of the mini shampoos and inventorying how many cooking supplies your hosts are providing and the thread count of the sheets, then an auditor might allow you to take 10% of your total trip expenses as a deduction.If, however, in an 18 hour waking period, you spend 6-8 hours per day interviewing Hosts, researching which properties would make good AirBNBs, researching the local laws, touring properties, meeting with an agent and vigorously pursuing your next acquisition, you'd have a MUCH better case for writing off your travel expenses (but probably not your lift tickets and equipment rental).If, on the other hand, you are traveling and on vacation and just hang out in your AirBNB without actually performing any activities, then the odds that an auditor will allow any deduction at all is pretty minimal.In any audit, it would be up to you to document the business purpose of your trip.  

The City would probably only allow you to load the garages off the alley.

If you run into snags with the MPRs of a VA Loan, having that cash on hand could allow you to finance a great deal with a different loan, fix it up, and then refinance into a VA loan to pull out cash.

Due to our limited funds, we want to figure out how to get a great deal, with as little of our cash in the game as possible, to allow a "safety net" of sorts.

Since you're essentially looking to "house hack," FHA loans allow for you to use 75% of the expected rental income from fair market rent as determined by an appraiser on the non-occupied units as qualifying income. 

You would need to purchase a home with a good amount of equity and then do a cash-out refinance whenever the bank allows it (usually 6 months).

Here is a great article from Realtor.com that gives great insight on the best markets for real estate investors. https://www.realtor.com/news/real-estate-news/best...Your $100k-$150k will allow to acquire 1-3 properties at a discount that cash flow well.

Because I was looking to get it on an investment property, the lender had to be willing to allow for that although most only use the primary resident.

@Robert Gunby I usually allow it (it's only been asked of me a few times, mostly with SFH's I managed for other landlords) but with the condition that the old appliances be put back in place when they are gone.

Suck it up and move on or sue in small claims court if allowed.