Buy a $100,000 property with $80,000 borrowed and $20,000 of your own money. The bank gets paid back first with interest. Whatever's left goes to you as the owner. Debt comes before equity.
Are you in the deal room? Let's say a property costs $100,000. You buy it with $80,000 debt from the bank, $20,000 equity from you. That means the bank is not your partner. They just want their money back plus interest. You are the owner because your equity is your ownership stake. Biggest difference: debt gets paid first, equity gets what's left. So if the property makes money, one, pay the lender first, two, then the owners split what's left. Super simple way to picture it.
