And keep in mind that the rate on the 2nd lien will likely be 10-12% so depending on the cash flow it might not actually yield that much cash to you at closingMore importantly, it's just more debt so ultimately it sounds like you need an income-producing event to actually improve your situation and avoid some of the consequences that you mentioned

In this situation, can all the partners claim mortgage payment as expense in their individual taxes (or just the partner who owns the mortgage)?

Sans the closet situation :) good luck with it. 

See the stress test above.  

Look for sellers who need to sell—due to financial strain, property issues, or other urgent situations.

Ok, I'm really looking for advice and curious to see what others would do in my situation.

In that situation I purchased a SF property 4 hours away from me this year as a fix-n-flip and to test the hypothesis that long distance fix-n-flips could be viable investments. 

How do contracts work in this situation?

Any competitive DSCR program is going to be in the 90-day seasoning range for allowing a refinance based on the newly appraised value.Your 9-month seasoning should not be an issue, barring an extremely unique situation (like inheriting a property or having it gifted to you).------------------------------------• 0-6 Months (Delayed Purchase, no Rehab completed) - up to 80% of purchase price• 6+ Months (Cash-Out Refinance, no Rehab completed) - up to 75% of appraised value• 0-3 Months (Cash-out refi, Rehab completed) - 75% of appraised value [good rates]• 3-6 Months (Cash-out refi, Rehab completed) - 75% of appraised value [best rates]

I have decided to look into a heloc, I'm a bit newer into realest state investing, I have completed a couple of fix%flips this year, I currently use hard money for the purchase with 10% down and I cover 100% of the rehab, with that said even just doing a couple of homes at a time, I find myself around 200k out of pocket, I think it would be a bit easier on myself and wife if we utilized a heloc vs just cash, my primary should appraise around 1.1m and my mortgage is 640k, I'm looking at pulling about 250k for a heloc, I don't want to refi the home and cash out as I only want to pay interest on funds as I use them ( I know I won't always be using the heloc cash) Any advice or even knowledge for people in a similar situation, and anyone have a referral for a Heloc?