Hello,I am a Software Engineer and a Real Estate Investor working on a tech product for the real estate mortgage brokers.

Maybe you saw this from the Tico Times already, but it lays out mostly depressing details on getting a mortgage in Costa Rica: http://www.ticotimes.net/realestate/25-mortgage-ti...Please post back here if you find anything!

However, if your mortgage allows open prepayment to an annual limit and/or an annual payment increase (as do most fixed mortgages in Canada), then borrowing from the LoC to prepay the mortgage serves little purpose unless your LoC was on better terms than the mortgage.  

I've come to realize paying down my mortgage is the best investment I could make.

Common deductible expenses include mortgage interest, property management fees, repairs, and even travel expenses related to property management.

Well even if the rent is equal to the mortgage, you'll still be in the negative after repairs, CapEx, vacancy, etc.Why would you specifically be thinking of investing at a negative cash flow?

The net rental income should be about 65% more than the mortgage. 

Quote from @Nicholas Dillon: I read somewhere that you can request to have your mortgage insurance dropped once your Loan to Value reaches 80%.

I'd like to use this to make an "all-cash" offer on a SFR, and then convert that to a conventional mortgage to pay off the HELOC.  

I walked to the house and met a man who says he was cleaning out due to the loss of their mother in some few weeks back.The guy told me she is  left with 12 years mortgage on the property to pay the bank.