HELOC (or some kind of line of credit) when u have no equity

[Christina R.]

I'm investigating some local banks and credit union options per some suggestions of friends but thought why not ask the collective intelligence here at BP??

Sold comps in our area are pulling our primary residence out of "underwater" status on paper yet it still probably won't support a HELOC as of today.

I'm basically looking for something up to $50,000 (to allow somewhat of a cushion) to fix up properties for buy-and-hold. Reason being is that I have plenty of open credit card limits that would support that and more but my understanding is that if I used those credit cards to rehab, then I'd have to wait at least a year to refinance and pull cash out to pay off those cards. My husband and I have stellar credit and the only debt we have is our primary residence (one mortgage).

From what I was told, banks have incentive to lend to people like us even if we don't have the equity in our own home to set up a HELOC.

So I wanted to see if anyone had recommendations on where to possibly look for banks that would 1) do a HELOC based on credit and repayment histories rather than equity in the property, 2) do a line of credit that would function as a HELOC

Don't know all the banking terms for things like this.

Would hard money be a good route to go in a situation like this? I'm not comfortable asking friends/relatives for money in this situation until I have a track record that supports the request. Would rather work with an impartial institution.

Appreciate any suggestions and/or comments.

Christina