If you don't buy your dream $800k property in todays dollars (with a significant mortgage), then by the time you work out that you should sell your say, 4x $200k investment properties that you accumulate over the next 10 years, you won't then be able to buy that same $800k property that you could have bought now.Yes, all of that was hypothetical, but, wealthy folk tend to work out what their dream home looks like, and buy it, as soon as they possibly can. 

You can later sell all or part of the note, and the accumulating income can go to buying the next property.The downside is that you lose some tax benefits, but if you buy and hold properties in an IRA, you already get tax benefits.

I will re-evaluate my properties and their loan-to-value ratios on at least a yearly basis to see if I have accumulated enough equity that I should refinance and pull some out to use for property improvements or to buy more properties."

If I could go back I would probably be more diligent and not go over 30% on each revolving account at the sacrifice of accumulating more property.  

Later in life, the death benefit would be closer to your cash value and won't really add any benefit vs the accumulated cash value.The cons are the higher cost of a life insurance policy in the early years as you are paying upfront all the fee and commission.

With the extra cash I was accumulating, it helped me pay down the principal amount on a far more accelerated schedule than passively waiting out the entire 30 year period the loan originally had been written for.Occasionally when I found that money was a little tighter as I made monthly mortgage payments, I would add in an extra $200 or $400 from my extra cash flow for principal only, and after I finally had paid down an extra $5,000 in principal total, however long it took, I would send in my request to the bank to recast the loan and quickly saw my cash flow go up again.

This way, you are your own bank for all of your future down payments, and that high paying job that doesn't accumulate enough for your SP fast enough, isn't used/spent. 

I would recommend them as a way to get in the game and start accumulating equity.   

Your property is nothing more than a temporary resting place for your cash until such time when your equity (dead cash) accumulates enough "friends" through appreciation (thank you economy) and principle pay down (thank you tenant/rent) where it has more value outside of that property.I then sell the property, and double down on the true value of that equity/cash by investing it into either multiple of bigger properties. 

We used every strategy in the book to accumulate rentals (excep turn key).In addition to house hacking (taking in renters for spare rooms or buying a multi door and living on one)   or buy an occupant house and repeating,,,  I strongly suggest you buy BP's Zero Down book.