If I were to approach a seller of a $200k home, and they had a remaining mortgage of $100k, could I get a new bank financed loan for that $100k, and have the seller finance the remaining $100k of equity to me?   

I paid off about 10 of them for them and took them over as those had enough equity to make it worth my time.

The reason I say this is that no matter what your remodel if you are doing a lot of the work yourself (way to max out equity growth) then maybe look for an even larger remodel than you had thought about? 

Our area has a good selection of hard money lenders, and every now and then, you might find an owner willing to carry the loan, often at attractive rates.

If you need that equity that soon you may just consider holding out to sell the house outright5.

The HELOC would act as en emergency way to tap into their equity if needed - as long as they don't spend it unwisely!

Instant equity just seems to save everyone in the deal.

.)- The property should be appreciating, if purchased in a good location, increasing the owner's equity/wealth.- Rents will be paying the mortgage off, increasing the owner's equity/wealth.- If you hold a rental until death, you can pass it on with a stepped-up cost basis, limiting captial gains if then sold (limited by inheritance tax limitations).Too many newbies on this site trying to replace their day job income via "passive" real estate investing w/o digging deep enough to understand how it really works.

I’ve been working with several lenders for DSCR loans, but I’ve found that the fees are quite high, with minimal benefit in terms of lowering my current interest rate.

I would pull a FHA loan for $665,000 and live in one side and rent the other side out to a family member for $2,000 a month.