Once that happens you can always take out equity to move it around to pay off any and all debts.There also little things you can do to pay a mortgage off or down faster just by playing with the payments, Bi-Weekly, extra payments per year, lump sum. 

If you don't already have a tenant coming in behind them, why wouldn't you allow them to stay an extra day? 

My point was simply that if the "fair market value" is really at the numbers you have stated, then it appears to be a sound investment, even if there is a bit of time... or a few "extra tasks" in getting to that great cash flow spot.

Get a 75% 30-year loan on your current house and turn it into a rentalGet a 75% 30-year loan on the duplex / triplex you are buyingTake all that extra cash you will have after you do the above and buy another property either as a rental or to live inMost investors I know would never get a 15-year loan because they want as much cash as possible going towards either rainy-day funds or for the purchase of more income property. 

The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it!

Take a $100k home you’ve owned for 20 years that’s now worth $300k and start depreciating that extra $200k.

Do I need to be up front about my goals to be a real estate investor or do I just pretend to be a home owner who is interested in getting some extra cash from my other unit/units?

The bank approved us for an extra 100k more than what we originally asked for (at 65% LTV). 

On 1-4 units3.5 5-7 yr lock, 25 amort. 80 ltv on 1-999 unitsAnother would do a 10 yr lock at 3.75-4%, 25 amort, 80ltv on 1-999 units.Most have little to no extra costs/ fees from the bank. 

But if someone has some extra information and advice, I'd be happy to hear from you.