Also, would this loan help build my personal credit, or would it only report to business credit bureaus under my LLC?

To cover renovations, I secured a $60K hard money loan, allowing me to improve the property without a significant initial investment.

Assuming you go the HELOC route, another option to reduce your costs assuming you have decent credit is to look at credit card balance transfer promotions.Back in 2003-2004 I had HELOCs on my investment properties and interest rates were increasing.

You can't call up Apple's CEO and suggest improvements, but you can definitely upgrade your rental property's kitchen to command higher rent.

You could also get a line of credit for about $150k (you should be able to borrow 75% of the value.)The reason I suggest this is…1) you save $40-$60k in selling costs. 2) you have a lower blended interest rate (2/3rds at 3.25% and 1/3rd at 7 or 8% instead of the whole $500k at 7 or 8%) saving you another $1k/mo in interest. 3) you only pay interest on that $150k when you actually use it, not from day 1  Unless you hate this property, or want to buy something you can’t afford without selling, that would be my plan.

Is the line of credit different from refinancing the home that is free and clear? 

I have done several multiple property 1031 exchanges throughout the state for my clients who are looking to scale and improve their investment portfolio. 

Most are being encouraged to buy Class B-minus rentals and below, but no one corrects them about their mistake of using Class A assumptions on these rentals:When a newbie gets smacked with reality via their losses, they then can only suck it up until time improves their mistake or dump at a loss.So, my question is, why can't we all do better and grow our industry with integrity?

I’m also based in California and invest in Detroit, where prices are far more reasonable, and there are still strong cash flow opportunities.Detroit has a solid rent-to-price ratio, improving economic fundamentals, and plenty of value-add potential if you have the right team in place.

I want to improve our asset management side.