Hello BP Community, I’m looking to take that “first step” but unfortunately when i tried applying for a pre-approval i was denied due to my hIgh debt to income ratio.

And of course I am in the vast minority of this thinking but I like paid for real estate most of the wealthiest clients I work with have a lot of paid off real estate.. if not no debt at all..

That obviously doesn't include debt pay down, etc.

I like the idea of being debt free.

This is a different structure, I realize, it is a debt investment and not an equity investment, but for some potential partners, that might be a preferable arrangement. 

@David MazzaAs my peers already said, reinvesting income from one property into another property does not eliminate taxes on that income.

View what types of debt and how much.

And any amount you purchase over the amount of your sale adds depreciable basis to your property and does create more depreciation allowance.Your situation isn't hopeless but it's probably going to have to be multi faceted and one where you have to compromise a little.Unless you simply do a cash out refinance and let the property support the new debt. 

Since i bought it last year, the market has gone up about 13% which put my property below 80% LTV. i just pulled a HELOC out of it in hopes of using it to pay off my debt to increase my FICO.

I will be doing exterior paint and pay down debt.