It’s a great way to grow faster.HELOC or Equity Tapping: If you have equity in another property, using a HELOC or cash-out refinance could help cover the down payment without affecting your DTI as much.Seller Financing or Creative Deals: Look for sellers willing to finance directly, which bypasses traditional mortgage qualification hurdles.Scaling quickly often involves combining strategies—play around with what works best for your goals.

The higher rates and no point options hopefully are temporary for you until you are able to show a 2 year history of 1099 income, refinance early in 2026 once you have completed your 2025 returns. 

One said the 2nd mortgage has to be assumable and the other said it did not.VA issued Circular #26­24­17 back in August to try and clear up the issue:Assumability: If the secondary borrowing is not assumable, the holder of the VA guaranteed loan should counsel the assumer that this may restrict their ability to sell the property to another creditworthy assumer through an assumption in the future.The lender currently servicing the loan still can decide whether or not they'll allow the 2nd.You could do seller financing for the gap and then refinance just that amount with a Home Equity Loan or Line of Credit at some point down the road. 

Some will be ok in 2nd position and some will not and force you to refinance out the first - but those are options that are probably cheaper than credit cards 

Put $10-20k into the place and create $40-50k of value and then refinance or sell.

Most banks will do a 25 year amort but only a 10 year term, which means you either have to sell or refinance the property at the end of the term.Also be aware of prepayment penalties. 

.- If you're going after a seller finance deal I think once you understand what it will take to get to a finished state its simply a matter of aligning your needs as far as short term cashflow with the current rents/situation, with the net number the seller needs after the refinance.  

When I looked to refinance, I had to get insurance again…a month later we had a fire in the garage.  

Start small, refine your process, and use your network to connect with local investors and seasoned professionals for guidance.Good luck!

That is why BRRRR (Buy Rehab Rent Refinance Repeat) is so popular.