my credit was pulled, time to shop heavy?

[Jeffrey Grieshop]

The other day I inquired about a property. I was simply looking to obtain some numbers for the property. fast forward, I talk to an agent for a while and a lender. I went with it because I wanted to see what I could pull. Looking back, maybe I should have waited but I did not think it was too big of a deal and hopefully, it is still not. The lender said a mortgage inquiry is different than a credit card inquiry and that I did not have to worry much about a hard pull. However, I frequent Creditkarma and Creditsesame. One of them notified me telling me I had 15 days to shop freely for mortgages, basically.  It seems a credit "housing" pull may still have some impact, based off of the notification. Should I start hitting the lenders hard in the upcoming two weeks to search for the best pre-approvals? That way I am ready to buy if the opportunity comes my way. Also, the notification insisted on doing so in the 15-day time frame.

I have read and heard about many accounts of where people are getting better financing through small banks or credit unions. Should I be targeting those types of institutions? 

Also, how important is it to be dialed in on the pre-approval? Let's say I want to ask for a bit more than I am anticipating I need as a safety net, just in case something does come along for more than what I anticipate spending on my first investment property. Well, when I have to get the actual loan, after securing a deal, I could always ask for less than what I was preapproved for, so it does not matter so much, correct? So, in theory, asking for a pretty high number on my preapproval isn't a bad strategy, or am I wrong?

ugh, here come the questions. I was told a HELOC could suit me well. I am a homeowner. i was told I would likely get the best rate using a HELOC. I also read that HELOCs have variable interest rates. So, that worried me a little, as it could go up a lot. I guess I have to talk to some lenders and then maybe I will get a better feel for this stuff.