Getting use of your equity efficiently

[David Caradonna]

Good Afternoon everyone. I was wondering if anyone has had any luck recently accessing equity they may have in their properties. I have two investment properties, one with about $100k of equity based off an appraisal we just did, and another with about $200k in equity. I am trying to access the equity in either, or both, to grow my portfolio. I also have my primary which has around $100k but we are almost done with a pool addition and then going to get it appraised to get PMI taken off. We figured we may as well wait for the pool to be completed for the extra cushion because I've seen that appraisers are being extremely conservative right now. We'll get it appraised and then that can be an option in about 2-3 months when the pool is done.

I can't find anyone that is doing HELOC's on investment properties. I did find one but they'll only do 70% LTV and they use a software to appraise the homes which is coming in fairly low. I don't mind paying the fees and such, but would like a little higher of an amount so that I can do more with it and make it worth it.

I don't want to cash our refi due to obvious reasons and having low interest rates currently. I was actually in the process back when it was around 6% on the appraised property mentioned above, but the appraisal came back a little lower than what we were expecting and after fees, points, etc. it again wasn't really worth it. 

I'm starting to wonder if that is just one of the struggles nowadays that everyone is going through, if there are other lenders that are offering some options, or a creative solution I'm not even aware of.  Trying to raise private capital as well but regardless I'd love to access all the equity if possible anyways. 

Thanks in advance! 

[Erik Estrada]

I agree with @James Hamling. Most lenders will push a refi because they want to be in first position. Finding a second position lender could be possible but expect to pay more and have higher rates. If your bank is offering a HELOC, take it.