yep. that would be my biggest concern. they done that in the past so many times. sometimes for no apparent reason. imagine situation,where they raise margin requirements overnight and if you are too tight-there is will be forced AUTO liquidation. this thing would be beyond your (and IB regular customer service control). they will just dump your shares on the market regardless.
This is stupid when you can easily get a mortgage that has no recourse except for the deed to the property. Why would you risk your own money on owning the house when you don't have to? All to save a couple of points on $400k? My $400k grows at 21%CAGR, so it's a ridiculously easy decision to have several mortgages.
Sniff, sniff, cough, fail. This all reads like a bunch of BS. I don't think it will work. To withdraw money, it has be yours. To borrow on margin, you have to buy something in the markets.
Wrong. It is a standard feature of margin accounts that you can withdraw cash from the account and thus create a margin loan on fully paid for securities held in the account. This doesn't mean that every broker allows it, but margin lending is a profit center for brokerage firms.
brains, we are talking about IB. search some of my posts and you may get the answer to the question you posed to me.
I don't think you understand portfolio margin. You are free to withdraw any surplus. It's your money. Do whatever the hell you want with it. Buy a house, a yacht, a restaurant, a farm in kansas or pay your electric bill. It's nobody's business and I don't understand how this is even a topic to be honest.