I bought an investment property about 8 years ago for $100,000 with 20% down. I refinanced recently so I could pull out equity to purchase additional properties. The property is valued at $300,000 & the bank said they can loan up to 80% of the value ($240,000). I did the refinance expecting to have $240,000 of equity available for investment but I only have $170,000 because the bank had to payout the original mortgage balance of $70,000. So my LVR is not 80% but only about 55% since I still have $130,000 equity tied up in the property. Am I missing something or is this how it works? I have read books & I thought 80% LVR meant 80% !!!