You’d also make all future capital gains at least partially taxable instead of tax exempt by converting your primary to a rental.

Due to high premiums, expenses increase, and cap rates and cash flow potential decrease.

And the refinance is not a taxable event.

Leftover funds not reinvested are taxable as "boot."

My understanding is profit from lending is considered "taxable income" and is therefore added to your income and subject to your normal tax rate after all deductions, etc.

You can get a HELOC if there is equity in the property most likely, which there should be since you own it in cash, but you will just be decreasing your pay out and then may end up short in repair money, depending on how much it is worth.

Quote from @Basit Siddiqi: I personally would not buy real estate with a retirement account.There are just too many headaches that are not worth the potential increased return.Some headaches when it comes to investing in real estate with a retirement account1) LTV values are less and harder to find lenders.2) Potential to sell or partially distibute the property if you have to do a RMD(Required Minimum Distribution)3) If you run out of cash and have to make a major repair, you may be out of luck and have to sell.4) Having to potentially worry about UBTI(Unrelated Business Taxable Income)I would personally invest in stocks/bonds/notes with a retirement account.I buy deals with cash and use a ROTH SDIRA so there are no RMD's.I buy at huge discounts to retail.

Increase income, decrease DTI, and buy a home (i.e., get a higher paying job, work two jobs, go to trade school, get a higher paying degree, live in affordable area, etc...these are things that most of us did).

To defer all of your gain, you'll want to trade up in value, replace all the debt (meaning new properties have at least $350,700 of debt), and not take any cash from the exchange (this is boot which = taxable gain).As for replacement property, it just has to be real property - meaning it can be commercial, STR, land, etc!

But once they give it to you, you inherit their cost basis and have a taxable gain.