HELOC - Mortgage process

HELOC - Mortgage process

Rental Property Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes

Main question: how do HELOCs affect your dti and how much does it change how much a lender will allow you to borrow?

Fairly new investor here, working on first purchase of a property to use as STR, and hoping I didn't get the cart before the horse. Here's my situation: I'm buying in a very hot market, so knowing it would take a few tries to get an accepted offer….I've been working on getting a HELOC at the same time I was offering on houses (we have a lender and a pre approval budget). After 4 tries…ours was accepted and we are under contract, closing early December! We close on our HELOC this week, early November.

At the time of our pre approval, the HELOC wouldn't have shown up because we hadn't finished the appraisal and didn't know if it was going to be a great option for us yet, so we didn't think to mention it to the lender. Not on purpose, we just sent everything they asked and got the letter. Easy Peasy. Long story short…..I'm just nervous the lender will now be like, what the heck, you have a much higher credit capacity and we don't want to give you the amount from the approval amount. Kind of like buying a car in the middle of buying a house. Is it the same thing? In my mind, we have no additional balances, no new debt. The HELOC will only be used for our down payment and closing costs, so it's not like I'm wracking up anything beforehand. Can someone give me some insight? Did I screw up?

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  • Rental Property Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    5y

    @Bryan Miller to follow up, I’ve asked my lender…just wanted some peace of mind over the weekend. Thanks!

  • Kerry BairdPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Melbourne, FL · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    5y

    While you are not racking up debt, you did increase the potential to do so, and your approval was based upon the information you provided.  I do think it is very much like buying a vehicle before closing on a mortgage.  No one here can tell you whether the lender will approve or not, except that lender and the underwriting team.  Good luck~

  • Nick BelskyBusiness Member
    Lender · Orlando, FL · Member since 2021 · 1k+ posts · 704 votes
    5y

    @Bryan Miller

    Yes. A HELOC will show on your credit as a liability, but ONLY if you've drawn from it. For example, if you got approved for a $50k HELOC but haven't used it, it will not show up. If you got approved and had a $20k draw, that amount will eventually show and count towards your DTI. It looks just like a credit card if there has been no activity on it. It will show up but show a zero balance, thus no DTI concerns. It will count towards available credit.

    Cheers!

    Belsky Mortgage, LLC521 Reviews
  • Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    5y

    @Bryan Miller you will find out soon if you screwed up or not. The underwriters can choose to approve or disapprove. I do think you already signed disclosures stating you have no intent to apply for more credit, etc. My guess is your closing will be delayed. They usually run a credit check one last time 24 hrs before closing. Give you lender a head’s up asap. Good luck.

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