It is investment banking, so the rules are much different than your "normal" lenders who offer mortgages or loans to cover a single or portfolio of collateral. 

I know I need to get a credit card and keep my utilization ratio low, but I wouldn't know much about the process of actually receiving a conventional loan from a bank or any type of loan.

I have used both Traditional (pre-tax) funds, Roth and HSA.

In particular, the ability to auto-sync and categorize bank transactions (similar to Stessa), easily track expenses against budgets, and streamline lease creation with lease templates is quite nice.

I've even been sitting in a bank struggling to get my LLC set and called my senior advisor attorney who called me back immediately to help out. 

In this manual (which I assume could be modified to provide to tenants) I include all the financing information (which you would not include for tenants) bank accounts, mortgage accounts, payment information, and mortgage payoff), a list of the contractors, what each contractor does, a list of upcoming planned or necessary repairs, and a copy of all leases associated with the property.

The bank they are using with that offer is now saying my site prep bid came in way too high and not approving me (so far. still in process).

We are still doing a ton of fix and flip loans there and the numbers make sense for the banks.

well you have your own answer there are no lenders for entitlements  there are JV partners like me for entitlements but its not at traditional lending rates of course as its all risk capital.WI funded 3 entitlement deals in 2024 in Loudan  county VA to the tune of 7 figures in cash. since my client does not own it its unsecured ..

Regarding a HELOC, most banks will only provide a HELOC up to 75-80% of the property value, so you may not be able to access a HELOC for a while.