Reality.It's sad that you need this explained to you.

They can explain what is needed so you can start working towards that goal, even if it's a year away.

We DID speak with a local lender who was extremely educational and sat with us and explained and discussed all of our options and the pros and cons of investing in this particular property. 

I have a friend that I just taught amortization to as he is trying to quickly pay off his mother's FHA loan to remove a co-signer, then cash out refi (yes, I explained interest rates right now).

We explained why we decided not to sponsor the deal, how you could approach the situation better next time, and what you need to have prepared when you approaching other sponsors in the future.

They have excellent payment history, and their credit can be explained with a history of opening several credit cards and a brief period during covid with a few missed payments.  

The agent that signed those contracts has a legal and moral obligation to explain the contract to you, which would have answered your questions.

The best thing to do is call a few local lenders in your area and explain what you are looking to do and ask what options are available for that scenario. 

I explained I wanted to use it as a down payment for another property and they said they didn’t think they could do that since another mortgage might put me under the DTI ratio.

When I explain to them the years left is inconsequential as you are looking at time value of money and what is your return - and you base your numbers off of that - people get confused.Its like people who say a mortgage is front loaded in interest and you pay more interest upfront - well actually that is not the case, the rate of interest does not change, you just have a higher balance on the loan...Its not "front-loaded".