He found a home that he loves in Texas but can’t get approved for a VA loan because he only has his pension as income. 

One of the most powerful ways to start building a rental portfolio is by moving and using your previous primary residence as a rental, this is because you will have a lower interest rate on the mortgage than investor loans written at the same time on the same property.I regret the many times we sold our primary instead of renting it out over the past 30 years.

We leveraged the land and got a bank loan for $1.6 Million.

I would look Into creative financing or DSCR loan.

Otherwise you are opening the door to pay transfer taxes and likely originate a new loan.

Keep in mind that any traditional lender will have rules and limits for how much the seller can finance in addition to their own loan, so unfortunately it's not possible to combine the two for 100% financing or anything close.John

I never heard of this type of loan.

I have been reading Long Distance Real Estate Investing - David Greene, and came across an interesting tidbit of information: Your first 10 (1-4, 5-10) property loans are Fanny Mae insured, after which your loan criteria become more unfavorable (variable rates, stricter credit score requirements etc.).

You save loan fees.

What kind of loan are you refinancing it into?