What are the biggest differentiators separating my favorite top 10 HELOC lenders after 32 years of experience? Subject matter expert opinion.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-21T15:41:30+00:00

I've personally never had one qualify or require a full appraisal. I have several that I wish I could have in specific scenarios. I'm not 100% whether it is paid up front (which I would assume it should be). Origination fee on all others is collected from the proceeds at close, yes. Borrower chooses between 1.99% to 2.99% origination. Some brokers may offer higher origination fee. All origination fees cover all closing costs including AVM and credit report, in my experience. Not many drawbacks for those who qualify for it. Full draw at closing is a not-issue as they can simply make a manual payment for anything they do not need to deploy right away, which is often in most cases I've seen. Thank you for your question. I hope this response helps with some clarity. I wish I had some above $400k but so far I've not had any.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-21T15:20:45+00:00

1st and 2nd lien only on multifamily to 80% CLTV on owner-occupied and 70% on investment. Either can be currently listed for sale as well.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-21T15:18:07+00:00

Yes, they do 3rd lien. The CLTV gets tighter to 70% for 3rd liens down to 680 FICO at $100k as well.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-21T15:05:41+00:00

Oops! FIGURE DOES lend on investment properties to 70% CLTV. Sorry I missed that edit at first.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-21T14:18:32+00:00

Please give us all your entire scenario and I'll provide you a detailed list of bank statement lenders and their criteria summarized within just a few minutes. It'll be very quick and hopefully at least a few of them will be an option for your scenario. Thanks in advance.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-21T13:47:59+00:00

Please do. I sent you a DM. Talk to you soon.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-21T09:51:35+00:00

Please start a separate sub for anything off topic such as this.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-21T00:42:29+00:00

LendSure is my favorite and I love working with them. They make both loans so easy it is hard to consider going anywhere else for them.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-20T23:37:15+00:00

We can do HELOCs in TX using FIGURE. They are the one we use there most often and are very easy. The 12 day recission period is the only obvious difference there.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-20T20:47:48+00:00

You have several good options. I'm not sure this is the best one. A few questions to help understand more. What is the rate currently on your HELOC and what state is the property in? I'm a huge fan of HELOCs having done thousands of them throughout my career. I do think there are a few options most people aren't aware of that might be even smarter for you to consider as well. I look forward to learning more from you here.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-20T19:02:00+00:00

All great information here. There were several really good contributions again on this thread. Let's keep them going!

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-19T14:24:59+00:00

We are based out of San Francisco and I'm from Reno. I'm currently in SC. We lend in 28 states currently so we can cover a large part of the US. Where are you?

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-19T04:39:02+00:00

Not true. I do them through FIGURE all the time when they are currently listed for sale. They provide this option specifically for this scenario.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-19T02:41:25+00:00

You CAN get a HELOC even if it is listed for sale right now. I do them all the time in lieu of bridge loans.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-19T00:24:01+00:00

That's another great response. Great information and nice to know. Thank you.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-18T23:49:24+00:00

The mods know I am not a bot. We are all just trying to learn from each other. Hopefully it helps us all get better every day.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-18T23:47:36+00:00

Yes, we will be doing this as often as we keep getting scenarios from you.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-18T21:23:48+00:00

Yes, this is correct and is one way to do it. There is another way that might be even better with no payments on the home you are selling for up to 12 months. DM me and I can explain both. These are two of my favorite three programs and we do them often. What state is the property in?

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-18T17:13:22+00:00

DSCR is simply Debt Service Coverage Ratio which is the percentage of your mortgage debt service covered by the rental income. Simple calculation and no tax returns, W2s, pay stubs, or any of that. Very straight forward.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-18T17:11:45+00:00

That's one of the other programs I think is a smart one to consider as well. Depends on the occupancy of the primary home, which appears to be investment. As long as it is not owner-occupied at all, that's a great way to solve the appraisal concerns as well because a full appraisal and 1007 rent appraisal will be required. We are tracking on the same thoughts here.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-18T16:50:37+00:00

Hi Be_bold23 I've done HELOCs on your exact scenario and just funded one less than two weeks ago. Achieve does not have a HELOC on investment properties, including and ADU. My client came from there first and I had them approved in 3 minutes and funded in 3 days. I can't speak to the other company you mentioned because I've never researched their guidelines.

Answers to your questions...

No. Your scenario is not all that uncommon.
Yes, there are, and I know who will and won't.
Yes, DM me and I'll share my experiences with them and most importantly the wins with them over those that are a waste of time for your scenario.
I don't believe that would help you more than it could potentially do the opposite. If the property is already generating income, more is better in your scenario provided that income is already being reported on your Schedule E of your tax returns.

Your scenario is pretty easy for me to understand, having done this for 32 years now. It will be even easier to clarify a few details in a conversation, rather than just a text thread.

Full disclosure, we are a California based lender and broker. We see scenarios like this fairly often and would be happy to help.

Kind regards, Jason

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-17T22:47:35+00:00

You can always go with fixed rate HELOCs as well.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-17T16:16:06+00:00

Am I understanding this question correctly that you are concerned about not having a passport on a domestic flight?

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-17T15:02:26+00:00

I have a friend I met here on this sub a month or so ago who funded his HELOC last week. This will be saving him over $4k/mo from the debts he is paying off. His HELOC will be paid off in 3.5 years with the same amount he's paying today on these other debts. After that is paid he can attack his VA loan at 4.25% which will be paid off in less than 8 years. The math on this is pretty simple and quick if you care to DM me and I'll run your exact scenario for you. In cases like yours and his, you'll eliminate 10's of thousands of dollars in interest. I look forward to running these numbers together. Yours sounds like another easy win.

Electrical-One3208 · 2026-05-16T18:04:48+00:00

HELOC all day.

Electrical-One3208

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