Primary Home > Rental, 1031, put in LLC? Cash-out refi/HELOC?

[Jeff A.]

Hello BP Group!

I will try to keep this as short as possible....

I own a SFR in Northeast-Florida for 5 years. It has never been used as a rental.

House was paid for in cash and there is a very small “hard money” loan to pay off.

There is NO NOTE recorded on the property - it is free and clear title.

I intend to pay back the capital (plus interest) to the individual that lent it to me and she will transfer title to me (or my LLC, more on this in a second).

I already have a law firm/title company (Sheffield & Boatright) already drawing up papers for me.

The eventual goal with the property is to 1031 exchange it in to a MF income property.

I can turn it into a rental as soon as the small loan is repaid.

Before we can do the 1031 (one year from when it becomes a rental I have read?), I would like to HELOC the equity out of the house to have funds ready to purchase another property.

So my question is: can I get a HELOC loan on the house if it's in an LLC? Or does it need to be in an individual name?

Also does this whole plan make sense? Is there a better way to do all of this?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your feedback! Jeff :)

(I hope I put this in the correct forum, if not let me know)