Ability to draw (HELOC style) against our real estate equity as a portfolio?

[Simon Asselin]

Hi all - my wife and I have been real estate investors for several years and over that time have developed significant equity across many properties. 

My challenge is that the equity is siloed in a high number of properties which complicates our ability to draw against it and leverage that for operational and investment purposes.

Do you all know of banks willing to work with investors and able to underwrite at the portfolio level, rather than having to apply for and open HELOCs on a per-property basis?

Thanks!

[Andrew Postell]

@Simon Asselin what you are looking for is sometimes called "portfolio lending" and sometimes called a "blanket loan".  But the best course of action here is two fold:

1. Visit your local REI groups. There are many groups that meet across the country. Some post here on the Bigger Pockets Marketplace. Many post on meetup.com. Even facebook will have some. Networking is always a great practice and you never know who you might meet there and what good information they have to share. Would certainly recommend visiting if one is close to you. If you don't live in Washington then join all the "Washington/Seattle Real Estate Investor Groups" on Facebook and ask this question in each one.
2. Calling - and then there's this option. Which is what I had to do. I had to call about 200 lenders (no exaggeration) to learn of 4 lenders who did this and I have some tips. First, when calling banks target the smallest most community based banks you can first. If you have never heard of them, and they have one location - that's a good candidate. No big, national, publicly traded banks will do this loan type. Second, try to ask for "LINES OF CREDIT" instead of HELOCs. I know it sounds like I'm splitting hairs but some banks write HELOCs in their residential department....which won't write Investment Properties. And that residential department will often not speak to the commercial department. So, they'll just say "sorry, we don't do it"....not even knowing that they really do! So, if you ask for a "line of credit on an investment property" that should get you to the COMMERCIAL division. That's the section of the bank we want. Now, most of these smaller banks may only have 12 employees or so. So, don't get frustrated if they don't return your call or aren't in the office. Just call back and be friendly. Maybe play dumb a little "I don't know if I'm in the right place..." "I'm sorry to disturb you, you may not be the right person for this....", etc. Maybe someone can get you to the right person. Again, be prepared to call A LOT.  

Anyways, hope that helps some with your search.