Last time I refinanced, they required me to complete my taxes or at least proof of my estimated tax payments.

As far as being a god’s gift to lenders, I wasn’t suggesting that. But I’m as boring as they come when it’s comes to a borrower….Verifiable W2 income, credit score OK, $500k would be around 40% LTV, and my HELOC I think I will close, since I no longer need an emergency loan fund since I have sufficient emergency cash. I don’t think I’ve ever been turned down for a loan, but to your point, knock on wood, there’s a first time for everything.

But again, the only way I would want to do this if I could write off the mortgage interest, both before I need to use the money and after the money is used for an actual rental purpose. Can anyone comment on the deductibility of the mortgage interest if that $500k isn’t initially used for a rental property purchase?