Home Equity Line of Credit Increase

[Mark Bommarito]

Hi, 

I currently have a HELOC from my primary residence. I originally obtained the HELOC in 2014 and have since made more improvements on my residence and feel the HELOC amount is low and could be higher. I would like to have the HELOC for starting out this year for fix and flip real estate investing and business start-up funds.

How would I go about increasing my HELOC. Can i ask my current lender to perform an appraisal and raise the amount? Is it okay to tell them i am going to use the funds to start a business when they request reason for increase or is this a big red flag to them?

Or should i shop for new HELOC all together? I am looking for initial funds to be able to partner with others to get started in real estate investing.

Thanks for any advice, 

Mark