Financing Second Property (VA Home Loan)

[William Smithson]

Hello!

I am new to BiggerPockets and was hoping to get some valuable information to help me out. I am in the military and purchased my home three years ago using a VA Loan. I have three roommates/tenants that provide rental income and have been able to pay down the house pretty quickly. It has been a very positive investing experience, so I want to purchase a second home as an investment property. My question is about financing:

I understand the basics of secondary entitlement with the VA home loan. I am at the same duty station for the next three years, so to my understanding, I could not use secondary entitlement for a rental property in the same area.

Is there a way to use the equity on my current house as collateral (to avoid fronting 20-25% down payment out of my cash, or cashing out a lot of my stock portfolio) and get a competitive interest rate? I am trying to get all the potential financing options to make this investment. Thank you all for your time!