HELOC and VA loan question

[Jeff Hogan]

I'm definitely a newbie so apologies.

background -- I own my primary residence free and clear. Market value anywhere between 250 and 300K

We need to move due to health issues of my daughter.

I'm approved for a VA loan for 250K and can find quite a bit of house around the area for that price.

My dilemma is that in order to sale my current house I really need to make some improvements. Two teens and two toddlers have created some significant wear and tear on the house.

My initial approach was to get a HELOC of 15 or 20k to really spruce up my house to make it fetch more at resale. I have a 4/2 on a one of the largest lakes in the county with great schools.

Selling the house shouldn't be an issue; but, I know if I put in 10k I could get 300k as opposed to 250k if I do nothing.

However my VA lender is nervous about me acquiring a HELOC loan before I close. She's afraid that my debt/income ration might not go through with the added HELOC

I make 50k a year with no other debt (house and cars are paid off). I do owe $1500 to target which isn't behind and usually paid off in full every month but currently isn't.

so....will the HELOC hurt my VA? Or was she just telling me that because I wasn't using her for the HELOC?