Trying to get a loan to buy the second rental property

[Bobert M.]

I think this is the right category, if not, I'm sure it will get moved.  I was told, "Buying your first rental property will the hardest, the rest will come easy."  Well, for me, buying the first took no effort, and now I'm struggling to figure out how to keep moving forward.

I'm new here, and have spent weeks reading on here, so thanks to all those who contribute their knowledge.  

My question is one that I've read some on, but circumstances vary here and there so I thought I'd post my exact circumstances and see if someone could point me in the right direction.  If we screwed something up, also would love to hear it.  We learn as we go and we have to start somewhere.

1.  My partner and I took out HELOCs on our personal homes and bought a house for 60k.  We fixed it up with 15k and its probably worth about 95 to 100k, so it has about 20k equity (based on what we owe vs rehab costs).  The house on paper is free and clear.

2. The house was bought to be a rental, so it was put into a business name.  We were told by others to do that to avoid liability.

3. Now, we just rented it out, and we want to buy another. This is the hard part. The first one was easy, cash deal, out the door, done and done. A business LOC would be low, in the 20k range if approved, but won't buy a house. Our business credit card if we need it to, will cover rehabbing another house, but not the purchase. I can't get the bank (or any of the 4 I've called, including BIG banks like chase and WF to local credit unions) to give me a pointer as to how to get money to make another home purchase. I was told I can't do a reverse mortgage either because its not a primary residence or its in the business name (can't remember which was the determining factor). And I can't do just regular mortgage because it would be an investment property, so it falls back to the business loans dept.

My last contact with the bank I was told if I found a property I liked and made an offer to purchase, I may (again pending approval) may be able to get a "secured amortized note" for 25 years with rates of 4.25 to 7.85 (hopefully the former), but the balloon would come due every 3 or 5. 

Is a secured amortized note my best bet?  In most books or publications, there are always these creative ways to finance, however I don't see any that apply to me, I don't know anyone with money, no rich friends or investing groups and I live far away from big cities so those types of connections are hard to come by.  I've also heard that you always use OPM (Other People's Money) when possible, which is why I'm stuck on using the bank.   I know banks have to make money, and maybe there are options out there that I have to specifically ask for, so any tips or tricks are welcome.