Keep getting beat out by cash offers; do we need a LOC?

[Jessica G.]

Hey everyone, so we are looking at properties for our first rental and keep getting beat out by cash offers. Essentially, sellers are getting so many offers that they will come back to my realtor and say that they are now only considering cash offers. Dallas/Fort Worth is super hot right now so I don't know if it's time to start looking at another avenue for funds or if I just need to be patient. I want to be cognizant of relying too much on leverage and do not want to get ourselves into a mess just to buy something. 

I want to be smart about this. But at the same time, to say that I am sick of reading, learning, and talking about real estate investing is an understatement. Everyone is always saying to "take action" and that is all.I.want.to.do! I understand that we also need to be finding deals in other ways - but I'm thinking we would need to be prepared to pay "cash" for those too?

What do people think about a personal line of credit? Would that even qualify as a "cash" offer? Obviously it would only be valuable if we could get enough to buy outright - probably $150k - $200k and then refi out. My lender will refi after 30 days. We currently have a HELOC for $85k.

I appreciate any advice - if I just need to be patient, not make this too complicated, and keep chugging along I will do that.