If you're considering hard money loans, they can provide fast funding, but with higher interest rates and shorter terms.

Also, I have to save up for the cash-to-close since the VA loan requires 25% down for anything above the loan limit.

VA loans are the only loans that allow this, and there is no rate penalty for it no longer being your primary home.With that in mind, you could do a cash out refinance today at a higher rate than current market rates which will create profit on the loan, we can take that profit to pay for your closing costs.

I did all of my loans with small local banks in my area and was always happy with the rates and service.

Last short term rental we put on the market was booked for a 30 day stay first day on the market.

Curious if anyone has done that since land loans aren't great terms.

A cashout refi of the current loan on one of the properties may be an option.

@Ella Marie the Pro's are you can build long term wealth, the Cons are you can lose money if you cannot properly quantify risk.

If you are considering working with them, I strongly advise you to double-check the provided rates and terms carefully.During my loan process, I discovered that they had added a yield spread interest without informing me. 

Long term $ can range from 6's-10% range depending on all types of factors - LTV, location, unit count, debt coverage, borrower strength, full doc or lite doc programs, etc..