One solution I’ve seen is closing the purchase in cash, then securing the HELOC afterward, though this carries more risk.

There's a few different ways to focus on a lower rate such as with house hacking and making the investment your primary residence, requesting a significant closing credit from the sellers for standard rate buy-downs (which I've had great success with recently), or utilizing lenders who offer short term rate lowering solutions such as 2-1 rate buy downs (again, ideally paid for by the sellers).

He wasn’t interested in brainstorming solutions, like using the inspection as an out.

This included some landmark deals including Rockefeller Center’s $3.5B loan and Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau $1.2B refinancingAlternative lenders filling traditional banking gaps with short-term solutions which has already begun a cycle of consolidation that will likely continue and accelerate in 2025The Office Sector Divide:CBD property values are down 50.7% from 2021 peaksClass A office properties seem to be in their own vacuum of prosperity with trophy properties commanding premium rents ($100+ PSF nationally, up to $247 in top markets) with strong occupancyHybrid work continues impacting older building valuations which have not faired as well, but this may begin to rebalance as more companies are instituting mandates to return to physical officesChallenges & Opportunities:$1 trillion in loans maturing by 2026Interest rates up from 3.5% (2021) to 6.74% (2024)Experts such as AEW’s Michael Acton and Blackstone’s Nadeem Meghji see the best entry point in the last 15–20 years and we agreeMarket Outlook:Current market conditions present unique opportunities, with inflation-adjusted prices at historic lows and yields at decade highs.

Are you coming up with a solution?

The easiest solution to combine your two Stessa accounts would be for you to add the email address you have associated with BiggerPockets as a collaborator to your already active Stessa account.Then log in with your BiggerPockets credentials (as that collaborator) and it should upgrade your Stessa account.Here are some easy steps to follow: https://support.stessa.com/en/articles/2105533-the-power-of-portfolio-collaboratorsIf this does not work, please message [email protected] and we can work with Stessa directly to get you set up.

This is probably why you want to bring equity back into your US business and any other investor might make the same choice as you.I brought up the challenges to come up with the solution, which was my last paragraph.

What problems do you face as investors that still lack good solutions?

They would get that $500K tax free and the rest of the tax would be deferred in the 1031.A very elegant solution that puts $500K tax free in their hands now. 

Don't wait for problems to happen before developing a solution.