Since I had a couple million in mortgages in my personal name, I couldn’t do it.  

@Mary Parsek you are pretty close with this forum but I would suggest posting this in the "Mortgage Notes" forums.  

It gives you a list of all the assumable mortgages in your area.  

Deed restrictions tied to a mortgage can be tricky to remove, but it’s not impossible.

In this case, your monthly payment with 20% down will have a good MARKET rate if your DTI works with a much lower month payment and no mortgage insurance(MI).

I can't really afford to pay two mortgages.

I don't know your living situation but if your paying x,xxx for rent or a mortgage and instead by living in one side and renting out the other you will be paying y,yyy instead and y is less then x that's great, especially if you can rent out your primary residence and make income there too. 

Incensed deal flow by developing a large list of contacts of commercial mortgage brokers using LinkedIn.  

Hi @Chris Garnes,I am an investor who has self-funded rehabs and also a licensed mortgage broker.

Using a heloc as 1st mortgage really only has a major benefit if you have idol cash sitting around from your paychecks.