How can I get a HELOC on an investment property?

[Chris H.]

So, I live on the west coast and am on the title of a property on the east coast (specifically, in Georgia) worth more than all of my other assets combined.

It's occurred to me that if I had that cash available, I would easily be able to purchase properties without needing to use hard money lenders. (I have been buying properties cash, then refinancing, butI am limited by my funds to very small properties.)

I went to a local national bank (since my local lenders can't give loans in Georgia), and was pretty much told that "no one" will give a HELOC on an investment property. They can do a cash out refi and give me 75% LTV, which is fantastic, except:

* $4k origination fees
* Obviously, I will be paying interest on the full bulk at all times, even when I'm not using the money or only using half of it.
*Interest will be higher than usual because it's a cash out refi on an investment- they tack 1.5% on top of the going rate, so it ends up a little below 5% interest.

So...no.

My next step is to start googling and calling random mortgage brokers in Georgia. But I wanted to ask your view.

Is there any way to get a HELOC on an investment property?

If not, do you think it's worthwhile to shop around for a cheap <4% interest 30 year cash out refi to have the money to invest? I'd love to have the HELOC, I'm extremely skeptical about doing a full refi because I don't want to be paying interest all the time.