There are so many hidden and fully disclosed fees by the insurance companies that it is impossible to beat the following strategy that I ended up doing and will share with you below: 1) I put a single tenant commercial property under contract with a 45 day due diligence (to inspect the property with no obligation to purchase it) 2) I contacted national tenants (I follow a very specific system) and got one committed to lease the space for 10 years with a NNN lease (NNN means: Tenant pays the lease plus taxes, insurance and maintenance) and a corporate guarantee (lease is guaranteed for the duration and backed by their financing bank like Wells Fargo) and they asked me to spend some money to offset some of their TI (Tenant Improvement for the location) 3) I took the cash I was going to put in to buy in full a WL insurance and instead I just put it as a downpayment for a 20 year commercial loan at very low interest rate and I used some of the money left over to pay for the TI/rehab cost to improve the single tenant retail property as agreed with the national tenant. 4) After we signed the lease the property went up in value from $850k (when it was vacant under contract) to $1.5Mil (with the national tenant in it with the NNN 10 year lease with the corporate guarantee and escalations) 5) My cash on cash was very high and helped me afford double the life insurance coverage for a lower premium because I got instead a level term life insurance with guaranteed sane premium for 20 years) 6) Once the 20 years are over, the loan would be paid off, I would still have the building at even higher value and the rent would easily be at least double what it was when I started 7) I did this approximately 4 years ago and a few weeks ago I refinanced the property and cashed out all the money I had put in, plus some, and I compared my strategy to those whom I know that went for the WL insurance coverage and the financial difference is huge due to the insurance fees, the limitations on what can be borrowed and limitations on income etc etc You can do the same with other type of properties of course.

To sit in the 1st position requires repapering the higher equity deal with the low IR.Any thoughts on how I can access this equity without selling or refinancing the more valuable property?

We are definately planning at refinancing as the next step but need to resolve the partnership before that.

But consider that if you buy an existing home at market rates you may get a more favorable purchase price, and either way 5.5% or 7% you'll be refinancing when rates drop. 

( I know there are certain rules to the 1031 and having 3 separate sales may be a little challenging) Also,  I thought about just refinancing the 3 properties, but the rates are a little high to cashflow well.  

I've been really happy with the results I've had of keeping my properties, refinancing, and buying more. 

Only later did I decide to use leverage and refinanced with Washington Mutual.

Me personally, I'm hanging on to this and refinancing when the rates come down at some point. 

Hi Jason,I'm new to this whole thing and came across cash-out refinancing.

For example, if you refinanced your home at 7% interest and took 30 years to pay it off, it would cost you a total of $121,000 to pay it off, and you would be paying a much higher interest on your entire home loan.