Can I refinance my primary residence 30yr conventional loan into an investment loan of some type and have my wife & kids live there while I live in a seperate primary residence (multifamily) to satisfy the 12m occupancy of VA loans?

you don't buy with long term / conventional financing and then refinance again into long term / conventional financing - many properties are too distressed to even qualify. so the "interest rate when purchasing" is irrelevant - the deal either works or it doesn't.

Some investors use conventional loans, while others use private lenders, hard money loans, or partnerships.

Conventional mortgage with 20% down How did you add value to the deal?

If you can come up with an extra 1.5% and finance with a conventional loan you have none of those downsides, a lower monthly payment and PMI only until you hit 20% equity

There are a lot more details that go into two VA loans and the downside but transitioning into a conventional loan on the  investment refinance will save you a lot of frustartion down the road.  

I can put 20% down; the rest could be HELOC or a conventional loan. 

I met Matt Scott about 4 years ago at a real estate convention.

I’m a broker that has access to conventional, non-QM, and hard money loans.  

Also would charge points at origination and bump the rate up a point or twoReason being my guess is this borrower can it get conventional financing so they are a higher risk.