Aside from the fact that I'm going to get fined on not paying it in time (and since their deadlines are so short, I don't see how I can ever get out of that cycle yet), any ideas how to pay it?

The idea would be to buy a house for short rental (AirBnb or longer period). 

A rule of thumb is not to stick money you think you’ll need soon In the stock market.

For a 3 br 2 bath, depending on the area, I’ve typically seen 800-850 for rent.I think that combined with the financing being on a 20 year amortization is where this deal falls a little short.

Our first deal will officially be in the books shortly!

There are more than enough higher end homes being built, but the stuff that's affordable to the average family is in very short supply and in extremely high demand. 

The short answer is that you can absolutely do a cash out loan on an investment property but working with any large bank is out. 

The short term goal (next 6 mo.) is to find and close on my first multifamily deal here in Southern California. 

All you need to do is put it into an investment that comes out in a short period...with friends ($$$$), then put it (and the friends) back in again, and keep repeating this. 

RE isn't for everyone, but from my experiences most people that quit do so because they didn't make the kind of money they'd hoped for in the short-term, even though there isn't anything short-term about RE.