Totally agree on lenders tightening up lately. Reminds me of when I snagged my first rural property a few years back—thought it'd be a breeze, but the...

I feel your pain on the appraisal thing. When I finally hit that magic 20%, I was already mentally spending the extra cash I'd save each month... rook...

I hear you on the caution—equity tapping can feel like playing a game of financial Jenga sometimes. A few years back, I had a buddy who got pretty exc...