Unlike the stock and bond market, real estate equity is illiquid until you cash out … unless you use a HELOC. Putting down 20% gets the favorable rate.

You can pull out equity via a HELOC to cash into your checking account. HELOC stands for home equity line of credit, or "home equity line." It is a loan set up as a line of which you can draw down from for another property purchase or to take advantage of a stock market correction. You simply get a check into your checking account and are good to go.

The only reason to get an 80% real estate loan is that it is the cheapest money rate. In other words, the banks are still stuck in the arbitrary belief that 80% loans are less risky … which isn’t necessarily so.