I am a commercial principal retail broker and real estate developer so know most of the brands.Jersey Mike's has one of the best sandwiches.

Borrow a million dollars and have someone else pay it off"Remember you're averaging $50K/year in principal reduction and you just created $400K in equity.  

So for instance, your PITI (Principal, Interest, Taxes, Insurance) payment on  property is $1,000 a month...and you rent it for $1,250 (1.25 DSCR) then you should be in the clear to borrow for the next property.

All it discusses is the principal balance. 

If you consider the principal repayment is a forced "savings" and you reduce that from your monthly payments, chances are it is actually cheaper to buy.  

First the tenant is paying my principal down (at 5.75 on 100K at 5 years my principle is 89,605). 

The cash value of life insurance offers principal protection and good returns (6-8%) and the cash value is liquid via policy loans or loans secured by the cash value from other lenders who take an assignment of collateral.As I've stated in many other posts and in my blogs, leveraging high cash value life insurance allows investors to put their money to work in two places at once.

@Edward SalazarValuation aside, my initial questions would be focused on why the property is vacant; what it will take to have it rent-ready; and with what are you dealing w/r to local economy and clientele.Normally, the property would be appraised using the valuation method {aka Income Approach} (as opposed to comparable sales) as it is a commercial property.If the property is completely vacant and not generating revenue an attempt to value using income will be dependent on too many assumptions (assumed market rents, estimated or old expense date, etc), so an appraiser may attempt to value the building using a cost-based approach (which also has drawbacks for properties in need of updates/maintenance).Comparable sales is a weaker approach and, as indicated by others, comparison to 2-4 unit buildings is essentially meaningless.  

Aside from making bi-monthly payments to pay on principal and pay off loan, will our home improvements also go towards that 20%?

Outside of the negatives associated with the markup in prices, do you foresee any drawbacks from this?