Low Doc HELOC for Self-Employed?

[Joseph N.]

Hello BP community, I'm new to the site and this is my 1st post.

My wife and I bought our 1st house this past summer using all cash in Portland, Oregon for 360k. We have been self-employed for 5 years exporting American goods to China where we sell them on 1 of Alibaba's online platforms. By our standards we do quite well and are able to save between 8 and 10k per month. Due to deductions, however, the income shown on our tax returns is quite low causing a local credit union to deny our recent 100k HELOC application. The credit union is quite reputable and I'm sure they were just being cautious with their members' capital.

I would still like to pursue a HELOC, though, and am wondering what my best course of action should be? I would like to use the LOC to invest in more products to sell and to renovate our out building into an ADU (Additional Dwelling Unit) or rent producing apartment.

My credit score is just OK at 704. It has been stuck in the 670-750 range as I have a high utilization rate, i.e. I utilize most of my available credit each month to replenish our inventory. I pay my cards in full and early every month, but still the algorithms flag this as risky behavior. 

We have no debt after paying off our 23k car and my student loans and have about 6k in an account with Fidelity. In China, we have approximately 120k in products on our shelves which is about 7 weeks of inventory. 

Any words of advice for a newbie to the real estate world on obtaining financing? Thanks in advance.