refinancing out of V.A.

[Donald Miller]

Hello, I'm a newbie. I purchased a fixer upper sfr in Oct 2016 with a V.A. loan (living in it). Basically walked into it with very little down. I'm super handy and can fix all the issues no problem. I've been looking into buying a rental property as well, but the thought keeps occurring to make this a rental. I like the idea of using my V.A. since it cost me little out of pocket. This house was a rental before which is why it's in such bad shape. I was wondering what it would take to refinance it out of the V.A. to free up the V.A loan to re-use on a different property. How long would I have to hold it before I refinanced? I have a lot of work to do before I could rent it anyway so waiting isn't a big deal. I figured it was at least a year. Am I correct in my thoughts that it has to appraise higher or at least the current loan value? What other criteria do they look at?

Thank you for your help. :o)

Don