I am also researching hard money lending and then refinancing into a 15 or 30 yr fha loan.  

If you're getting much worse rates than these, refinancing is definitely something to look into.  

I have always thought these types of homes should be left to local investors.There are some opportunities to own property with only 5 to 10k out of pocket through buying a home "as is" with a HML, renovating it, then refinancing it to pay the lender back.  

Looking at refi because expected rent would exceed refinanced monthly payment. 

With cash-out refinancing, you refinance your mortgage for more than you currently owe, then pocket the difference.

I currently want to invest a property in New York metro area, I refinanced my own house and got 500,000 cash on hand.

After reading "Who Took My Money" I am motivated to have a SFH that I own refinanced to accelerate my money.

So I am thinking to rather sacrifice the rate knowing that I could have a chance of refinancing than, buying at overpriced.  

I just refinanced out of an FHA loan and my payment went from $2858 to $2399.

What this means is that no traditional mortgage company will finance the home as the 2nd lien holder so if you plan on refinancing or selling the home, you have to pay off the "program" to be able to do so.(3) Some of these "programs" have penalties attached for early pay off or transfer of loan to another.(4)  The interest rates on these "programs" for these loans are high as many of them do not use credit scores to qualify people seeking the loans.Finally, there was a recent news article in my local paper about the "HERO" program [one of the green programs] which warned about using the program for these very reasons:**Beth Mills, a spokeswoman for California Banking Association, said in a telephone interview that any program that makes homes more energy-efficient is valuable, but the financing structure is problematic.