Portfolio loans, asset-based lenders, and home equity lines of credit are all alternatives to traditional borrowing.

Principal paydown is not an expense...it's just paying the cost of the asset over time. 

The #1 way real estate investors defer taxes to later dates is with a system called depreciation and bonus depreciation.Depreciation is the act of slowly, over time, deducting the initial expense of an asset against your taxable income.Generally over a 27.5 (residential) or 39 (commercial) yr time frame.So each year you can write off a few percent of the purchase price against your income. 

I've done this with my properties because I'm well known in my small town and don't want people to know what I own.LEGAL PROTECTION: By placing your assets in an LLC, you are legally separating them from your personal assets.

@Gavin WynnI'm glad you are thinking about asset protection.

My Partners and I have been buying Brooklyn small multi's (2 to 4 Unit buildings) since 1998.We currently own 9 of these buildings in various neighborhoods including Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, Windsor Terrace and Ditmas Park.Total Assets would be somewhere between $15 and $20 Million in the portfolio.Every since we bought the first property, which was in Ditmas Park for $340k in 1998, everyone told me it was crazy.I continue to hear how crazy I am to continue to buy every one or two years since 1998.That $340k Property in Ditmas Park is worth $2 Million today.

After half a lifetime of working and saving and investing in index funds while renting, im ready to make the jump into a new asset class.Looking to owner-occupy a multifamily in the city of philadelphia and hopefully pass a portfolio on to my kids someday.open to any and all advice!

Welcome to BP.I am not sure on the course offerings, but @Dave Meyer's latest book, Start With Strategy, would be a good primer that goes to the question you are asking.Are you talking about an overview on all asset classes or more of a how-to on getting started and prepped to invest?

I've done this with my properties because I'm well known in my small town and don't want people to know what I own.LEGAL PROTECTION: By placing your assets in an LLC, you are legally separating them from your personal assets.

Rent by the room gives you the opportunity to get more renters to cover the mortgage, making it easier to stabilize the asset.