Obiously it would depend on the sellers comfort, but from your experience what would you suggest?

I will be moving likely within the next 8-12 months or so, and my wife and I are planning on renting out our house, so that's how I figure we will start.I've got a pretty good gig going with the AF so this will be more of a supplemental thing for me at least in the beginning so I would say I'll probably be taking a more passive role to start, although I'm open to anything.I spent the last two years as a recruiter so I've gained some valuable experience in Human Resources, advertising and marketing, cold calling, as well as general salesmanship so I think I can find a way to use those skills in this venture.

Get some hands on experience.

There are pockets in Greenville that could experience good rent and property value appreciation to compensate for the poor ROI on your existing house as a rental but you have to be in one of those pockets (downtown, etc.) and this strategy should be intentional and data supported rather than accidental.  

Would you recommend I buy my first property as my primary residence now to gain the experience of home ownership or look to buy an investment property (out of state most likely)? 

I believe the DMV has plenty of opportunity and would appreciate it if someone that has experience in the DMV area or just overall experience in real estate investing as a whole could chime in and help me with what I don't know.

Hi @Jonathan Ortiz, I am an investor friendly agent with experience in buy & hold investments in the Jacksonville/Orange Park area.

Has anyone had experience with a 100% LTV VA cash out refi?

To this end, I would like to say Hi to all the fellow BP members who have inspired me to investing in Multifamily properties and if I can help add my experience to the site, I will do that as I grow.

You cannot base your entire REI based on a single bad experience with ONE property alone