Help in Richmond! The last R is the hardest

[Ryan Wydler]

I bought a great property in a really trendy area (The Fan) in Richmond, Va. The idea initially was a kind of House Hack/ BRRRR hybrid. I'd move into the downstairs bedroom and rent out the two bedrooms upstairs. The rehab was kind of rocky, but we got through almost everything (even with COVID19) and I moved in.

Now, I'm having trouble getting my refinance. I opened several 0% interest credit cards to do the renovation and piled on about 60k in cc debt and (because of my utilization rate) my credit scored plummeted to just above 600. I can afford to make all the payments with my W2 income so I'm not in any kind of serious financial distress, but banks really aren't eager to give me options with my score where it is. 

What would you guys suggest? Has anyone found themselves in a similar situation? I know I have a ton of equity in the home now (bought it for 200k, now conservatively ARV is about 350k) but how do I go about getting the Refi? Does anyone know a good portfolio lender that can overlook a credit score?

Thanks!

[Nicole Heasley Beitenman]

In the future, if you're going to use CC's, use business cards that won't show up on your personal credit.