HELOC - Choose lower short term or long term rate

[Christopher Brown]

I'll start off by saying I'm a newbie.  I love BP!

My wife and I are looking to fund our first deal. We have ~25K cash and $75K in equity in our house and we are looking to use a HELOC for down payment and/or rehab funding. From our credit union we can get a HELOC variable rate of prime - 0.25% (4.75%). From our traditional bank 1st mortgage holder we can get an option of a HELOC with a 1-year fixed rate advance with a rate of 3.235% fixed for 1-year and then a fixed rate of 5.5%. Their variable rate would be ~5%.

In your experience, would it be more beneficial to get a HELOC with a lower long term rate (Credit Union) or a HELOC with an option of a lower 1-year fixed rate for the short term and a higher interest rate for the long term (Conventional Bank)?

Thanks in advance!  Christopher