We bought one earlier this year for $75K and just refinanced it at value of $145K (using the appraisal from time of purchase).  

I currently owe $54,000 on my house.  I would like to refinance and get $20,000 to put down on a house to build.  Make my primary house into a rental. This is the only option I see to be able to keep my current home. ...

From there, you could take a line of credit or be refinancing to pull cash out and then really come up with a plan for that cash to multiply it through flipping, buying, rehabbing and raising rents, etc. 

We are planning on refinancing and paying off the loan and pulling out additional equity once completed. 

I would recommend refinancing it and pulling out some although not all of your equity.

Hi all,My name is Ray Southern and I'm looking to break into the world of REI.I've been a web engineer in Chicago for going on 15 years now, almost completely self-taught.It's been a great career, but I need to start looking ahead to retirement.I have no experience in real estate, except a condo I bought in 2008 as my primary residence, right before the market tanked.I'm still in the condo, did some refinancing, and plan on keeping it for good (great neighborhood), maybe renting it out if I start a family and need to move.My overall plan?

Not sure I'd want one of my siblings being trustee only to wake up one day and discover the house has been refinanced or sold.

You could also do an FHA 203K- although you would have a higher monthly payment due to the PMI.Depending on where you're moving to and how much entitlement you have left, you might be able to swing another VA purchase without any refinancing.  

The bad side to this would be higher interest during the rehab phase and more potentially more closing costs since I'll be refinancing two properties.Since this is my first time having to get a little creative on financing I just want to make sure I don't set my self up for failure.  

Noted on refinancing based on appraised value...will def find a bank that can.