I personally don't like a HELOC unless it's for short term costs that will have an easy exit strategy - ie: a BRRRR - use a HELOC for the rehab, then refinance and pay off the HELOC.

Read the full article here.https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/05/07/california-faces-54b-budget-deficit-1282926The past may have been good to California investors but from the current data, the future does not look so promising.   

I just reveled at a companys lead strategy that lead from the website directly to whatsapp.

Not having right exit strategy, bad contractors not showing up

Unless you have data that suggests that they have overvalued your home.

Give them strategies on how to get ready.A scammer wants to get to money in his/her pocket as asap. 

Even when we manage to reach a working voicemail,owners often assume we are just another "we buy land" serviceoffering far below market value.Given thesechallenges, we are eager to learn the most effective strategies for locatingpotential sellers and establishing a professional, trustworthy connection thatencourages serious consideration of our offers.Telephone/voicemail is informal, hence casual, hence “we aren’t putting much effort into this.”

Quote from @Scott Tennell: For real estate investors who have worked with private money lenders, what strategies have you found most effective in structuring deals to ensure both parties are protected and the funding process runs smoothly? 

One metric we do use when we're able to pull the data are permits pulled & what type of permits pulled in an area.

It doesn't make sense to you because you still don't understand the strategy.