No Income/Too Old for HELOC

[Jeremy Kong]

Hi everyone, I'm just getting into the real estate game and I'm looking to partner with my parents to fund deals here in California. They are down and want to take a HELOC on their SF/Bay Area home that they have 100% equity in, but they've spoken to a couple lenders and can't make it happen because they're "too old" (they're both 70+) and don't have income (both retired). Does anybody know of a way around that? Is there a way to maybe cosign with my parents, or should I simply call up a bunch of lenders until we find one who will do it? This conversation was all before the pandemic started--I understand that it will be more of a challenge to get a HELOC now because of the pandemic, but regardless I don't have enough experience to tell if this is a "no duh" kind of thing or if we just need to try harder.

Appreciate any advice you all can offer. Thanks!