If your property's value has increased since you bought it... given the market trends in Albany, that's quite possible... you could tap into that equity sooner than you might think.

It was 20% down  Like I mentioned on my comment above, it is possible to still finance this property with a non-traditional lender, especially when you are putting 20% down.

If you were providing all of that from your 50%, maybe, I wouldn't but I could see a market of enough size possibly going for that. 

Part of the investment thesis was getting it for a bargain, then building an ADU complex on it as affordably as possible, getting it to cash flow, and realizing value on both the rental income but also property appreciation given the work going into it.If the property will really only be worth ~$1.70M once we are finished, I will likely just stop the project now and exit the house as soon as possible.If you do not get dollar for dollar for projects such as this, how would house flipping ever work?

Purchase price: $160,000 Cash invested: $40,000 Sale price: $268,000 I bought my first house in Kalispell Montana as a long term investment and possibly a rental.

My research said it was possible to use my RE Agent commission towards the down payment but he said we cannot and I just let it go.

To many people get in real estate thinking they can do it all by themselves and it is not possible.

@Dwight HenningRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

-repeat the process every year by acquiring one house every year with the appropriate income qualificationThere are several ways to run and make sure you are maximizing your rental income while keeping your living expense as low as possible.

Implying bait and switch is pretty bold, please provide specific examples OR possibly consider not implying this about a loan shop that you clearly don't know much about.