I've been pre-approved for a cash-out refi at 5.5%, 30 year fixed and will bump my mortgage payment up from $657 to $1050.

@Diondrea Richardson For wholesale deals: "Hi this is Diondrea, I'm looking to buy a house in your neighborhood that needs to be fixed up.

Have you looked the route of lending money to people for real estate either for them to buy or fix up?

. $900 doesnt fix all that much if you have a bad apple.

The initial goal was to purchase properties with 2-4 units that we can fix-up and add $20-30K in value to. 

First step is to determine your strategy (buy and hold, fix and flip, owner financing) and then the ARV you want for each project.

However, if I turn the unit over I am estimating having to spend at least $15k cleaning the place up (new carpet, paint, misc fixes and updates) if I want to get that rent.

@Robert Kough, I have a friend that does exactly this: buy plex, live in a couple years, after some fix up and market appreciation, refi with conventional, freeing up VA for next purchase. 

We went to small claims court today and the Judge didn't seem to care about the June 6th date on the addendum or the other lease violations that needed fixed per the addendum. 

That might cost you 10k in additional costs up front, but it would probalby let you get a much better permanent loan once all fixed up, and probably save you several times that over the life of your permanent loan.