They pulled their credit report, used a simulator, and identified specific balances to pay down to boost their score.Here’s how the scores shifted:Before:TransUnion: 736Equifax: 750Experian: 730After:TransUnion: 775Equifax: 772Experian: 730That small move made a real impact:💰 Their rate buydown cost dropped from $5,408 to $3,288, saving them $2,120—all from planning ahead before locking in a loan.Lesson learned: Preapproval isn’t just a checkbox.

I understand that is the most ideal route, however, I have been trying to simulate what Christian Osgood and Cody Davis (appeared on BP Podcast #799) do.

We are saving around 50%+ of our income on a yearly basis, while also putting away for retirement and we would both like to get out from under the mortgage on our primary residence sooner rather than later.After plugging in some of our numbers to a spreadsheet to simulate a first lien HELOC it seems to indicate that we would be able to payoff our primary residence in ~10 years while also paying significantly less in interest from a conventional mortgage.

Quote from @Sebastian Geiman: Hey everyone,I'm currently exploring note loan investments and looking to take a deeper dive into simulating different scenarios with variables like origination fees, interest rates, and exit fees.

Is there a simulator somewhere that can help me estimate what my AGI will be to try to figure out how much I can liquidate?

If credit is the issue, talk with your lender to run a credit simulation to see what actionable steps you can take to improve it.  

This duplex will most simulate TWO INDIVIDUAL HOUSES.  

Credit Karma has a fantastic "score simulator" tool that you can use to project credit score changes (paying off balances, opening a new card, using an old card that has not been used in some time, just paying your bills on time for 6 or 12 months).

Like a calculator to simulate this strategy (https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/61/topics/795487-retire...), maybe showing how much equity could be pulled out of which property when, whether the portfolio would still cash flow, etc.

My conclusion is that the Vertex42 spreadsheet is just fine and it was very easy to simulate the situation.