He also told me never to have too much money in the bank for fear of getting sued and them taking your capital.

Do not expect to get bank and credit union favorable rates and terms, it will not happen with Hard Money loans.I wish you the best and if you have any questions or concerns just contact me.  

He got stuck when banks stopped financing, and he lost 44 million dollars worth of real estate.

I've never owned property and have less than 10K in my bank account. 

Most banks will do a cash-out refi for 70-80% of the home's value.

Working on my first rental property (bought from the bank.)

And once you have a proven track record, you may be able to work with a local bank to get a business LOC or some other type of loan to fund your projects at even better rates than 8%.

Jaysen, the house is under construction right now and I need to refi into a traditional mortgage.

@Dan Bryskin, yes, freeing up the VA Loan will help me get into a multi fam in San Diego, which is normally very hard to do (20% of $700k traditional vs 0% down for the same with VA Loan).

Our cash flow and credit scores are good (mid 700's to 800's depending on which reporting agency is used) but we do not have W2 jobs anymore so that prevents the regular bank route for a 30 year loanAll feedback appreciated!