Having seen people in litigation over an event that happened 7 - 8 years earlier, you never know what your circumstances will be in the future.

Unfortunately, you will have committed mortgage fraud to get it by signing the affidavit mentioning the items above.

He inherited the properties from his father who unfortunately, did not keep good records and his accountant (in my opinion) is not good at all (he puts in expenses as part of P&L that are not considered operating expenses like depreciation and capex).

And having access to a lot more cash would allow me to continue BRRRRing.The reason I think it would be best for me to initially pay off my home first, then HELOC it ( which is like having a access to a credit card with a low intrest rate secured against my home) is because I'll only use it if and when the circumstances are fit. 

Then focus on solving their problems and expect "nothing" in return other than more experience, more lessons, more value over the long-run.Your experience will solve these questions quickly, but everyone's circumstances are different.Best,Ryan

Our RE attorney unfortunately died and we have not replaced him.  

It is a necessary evil, unfortunately.

Depending on the circumstances surrounding the creation of the note, the state the property is located in, and the size of the transaction, title insurance may or may not be necessary.

If we're going to be internally consistent, IMO the playing field has got to be leveled.To do that, you have two choices.If you hard cap everything at 43% (and can no longer sell your home to that FHA buyer utterly maxing themselves out at 56.4% DTI), I can point to some dozens of millions, or hundreds of millions, of American voter homeowners ("homevoters") who will not like the impact this has on their home values, unfortunately.

Great question and unfortunately there is no good answer!