But the issue is the second you get the city involved and pull permits, you typically won't be able to reuse the existing structure.

Back when I was in the service only married guys pulled this off because they were the only ones (enlisted) who got enough money to be able to buy something; with my war pay I was making a hair over $12k as an E4 when my enlistment ended!

I'm curious what your motivation is behind partnering up when you are able to pull $80k out of your home? 

It’s painful to see people pulling back from the market in fears of overpaying because of false narrative that affordability is declining.

I Need Comps pulled for me if someone is available. 

If a mortgage lender pulls your credit, any other inquiries that are coded the same way do not affect your credit score for 30 days.If you are potentially buying more than one 2-4 unit property (house hacking), there is a strategy to the order in which to use your VA benefit, FHA, and Conventional financing. 

Effectively, it's like making extra payments on a mortgage, except you can then pull the money back out when, say, a credit card comes due.

Next, pull your own credit on MyFICO or similar.

I’m tempted to pull from my retirement accounts to buy more real estate.

Sure it's nice to pull up my brokerage account, see them cute green arrows, and listen to talking heads shout "Strong Buy!"