If a HELOC isn’t an option, alternatives like a home equity loan, business line of credit, or a DSCR loan could work depending on your situation.

For a smaller piece like that, not sure how creative you can get, but it all depends on what it's zoning is, access, proximity to other things, etc.  

Sometimes you dont have much of a middle ground depending on the demographics.

That will be tough to use your HELOCs together to get another loan because of your collective DTI so it will depend on that.

The idea of debt-free is that if a person is going to retire and has to completely depend on the income, they don't want a severe recession surprising them and causing them to default on the debt and losing the properties.In a normal world, I would do that as well.

That question depends on if you have enough other income to qualify.

It helps to make connections with your local flooring, tile, kitchen design studios depending on how high end you want to make your flip depending if it is in a HCOL neighborhood.

However, be mindful of the Section 461 business loss limitation, which could restrict your ability to deduct excess losses in a given year, depending on how your rentals are reported.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.

Depending on the valuation on the other property, you may be able to pull a HELOC on that one as well to get your $100k you're looking for.

I think they used to go up to like 80-85% CLTV depending on credit score.