@Jaycee Greene I’ve contacted big banks small local banks and I haven’t quite tried credit unions although I have 2 credit unions for which I have accounts (but my experience is that they aren’t offering that much better terms).

I never really know ahead of time which lender might be open to that before putting the full credit package in front of them, and many of them 'in theory' offer it, it's just a matter of exposing the potential transaction to enough credit unions and banks that a few "swipe left," a few "swipe right," and looking at the terms offered by those that swiped right.

The tenant pools are great, as we are the State capital, we have two MAJOR hospitals, government jobs, large developments happening (out-of-state union workers), MSU, Lansing Community College, and so on. 

Check with a few local credit unions as they usually have the best HELOC offerings.

We bought it for $225k with a 3.125% mortgage and 1) are interested in keeping it as our first rental. 2) We are thinking about using some of the equity (maybe $50k or less as a HELOC to combine with existing cash for our next home down payment that we can convert to a HELOAN through our credit union).

The good thing is, she is now researching credit unions and banks for a car loan.

This is very common with local banks and credit unions - they dont have the infrastructure or volume to sell into the secondary market and simply choose not to offer those products in their business model. 

hi @Alvin TaverasMortgage Broker here, i've been referring clients out to Credit Unions for their HELOCs. we have a handful of lenders that can do them, but i'm finding the juice is not worth the squeeze in the broker/ wholesale world.

I am planning to open a HELOC with my credit union soon and use the method @David Dachtera put forth in this thread.

In addition to brokers, I would also suggest speaking to 1-2 regional banks/credit unions.