Refinance it to either a conventional lender or a non-traditional source that is more flexible than banks.

Yes you can refinance with a traditional lender.

Long-term, buy & hold is a great strategy - I've always been a firm believer that you have the upper hand with these properties in the investment field because you have the advantage of being first in an area then being able to wait for appreciation for whenever you want to sell "when the time is right".Often times, these rental properties also don't involve the full scale upgrades (less money out-right) that you would need in a traditional fix-&-flip in order to hit projected ARV's.The one draw-back here is out-sourcing your rentals to a property management company - which finding the right one for the right price can take some time to vet - or else managing the property yourself, in which case you will need to start building relationships with contractors to ensure proper repairs are being done and the needs of your tenants are being met.You can do buy & holds out of state easily, too, just find the right market that is land-lord friendly (for example, mid-west: Indiana), and I think its fair to say you could do well long-term with the right properties!

Offsetting this slightly my wife's brother is renting a room from us at $300/month so that brings our expenses down to $3700 currently.My ultimate goal after reading "Set For LIfe" & "Rich Dad Poor Dad" is to eventually get this down to $2500/month, and then start saving money to invest in BRRRR.

Read Rich Dad Poor Dad.

You won't likely find one that will agree to it.Second, It's not likely that you'll find a traditional lender that will let you borrow additional funds to secure the down payment.

He mentioned on day 1 after closing if you purchased using cash, you can get 75% of purchase price via loan but appraised value from traditional lender is same as credit union, you have to wait 6 months.

I aim to use real estate investing to build generational wealth, enable me to work a traditional job only if I want to, pay off my student loans, travel on demand, pursue dreams and to give money away to worthy causes. 

Purchased with traditional loan financing = 12 months typically and as soon as closing costs added to loan are paid down ( break even point)4.

I didn't attend any REI groups because the few times I went I felt like someone was trying to sell me something to help me get rich quick, at an insane cost (both rub me the wrong way).