Yes as you pay down the mortgage you will gain equity that way, but the interest is front loaded so it takes time to build that equity from principal paydown.

i think it's because of the tremendous rise in home equity in the past 5 years.i used a HELOC to (1) help with a down payment on a short term loan, that I then paid back in full when I refinanced; and (2) to consolidate some higher interest debt, which I am now paying back by making extra payments against the principal since HELOCs are generally interest only for the first 5-10 years. 

Bookkeeping when it comes to real estate investments can get tricky.I often find the following mistakes occur1) They fully write off the mortgage payment when in reality the mortgage payment is broken down into Interest, principal paydown and an increase into the escrow account.2) If the property is managed by a PM company, do not factor in the PM Statement3) do not calculate depreciation expenseBest of luck in your search for a proper bookkeper.

I have a list of maybe 15 note buyers and feel that if it's not an absolute deal killer, one will accept that they get the head of the note and my loan is 100% LTV against the tail.If you have to partial first to build a note portfolio that meets minimum loan amounts for lenders, then you have an order of operations problemThe only thing I can think of here is to write in the partial sale terms that I have the right to take a loan against up to 50% of the UPB on the note and retain the full right to collateralize it for loan purposes, as if I were the sole principal.

Good luck I will say that it is a tough pill to swallow principal wise.

I've included an example below to help illustrate this.So different lenders have different rates (which do vary even for DSCR loans) but these are factors they all consider.See example below:DSCR < 1Principal + Interest = $1,700Taxes = $350, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $50Total PITIA = $2200Rent = $2000DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2000/2200 = 0.91Since the DSCR is 0.91, we know the expenses are greater than the income of the property.DSCR >1Principal + Interest = $1,500Taxes = $250, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $25Total PITIA = $1875 Rent = $2300DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2300/1875 = 1.23If a purchase, you also generally need reserves / savings to show you have 3-6 month payments of PITIA (principal / interest (mortgage payment), property taxes and insurance and HOA (if applicable).

The longer you hold it, the more principal you will have paid down. 

There are obviously other metrics that have to be met, such as the gross monthly rent has to be equal to greater than the total principal, interest, taxes, and insurance; that is the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR).

It helps I am an Accountant and have all my accounts sync in, with Work Papers for depreciation, asset basis, and use my monthly statements to get me the correct Interest and Principal amounts each month.I do this same thing for my clients and they really like being able to see how they are doing each month. 

Your ROI off a 20% down payment will be around 60-80% when you factor in principal pay down on your mortgage (which your tenant is paying off), 5% normal appreciation and monthly cash flow.