They used to talk about the 2% rule, which was basically a ruse to get you to buy in the absolutely worst part of town where you got 2% on paper and only on paper.

We are planning for a HELOC to support our purchase of a new home.

@Samantha McFarland welcome to the forums! 

Do you need to refinance quickly to avoid a balloon payment or other financial pressure?

The other heirs did not agree to the sale.

If the HELOC rate gets out of hand, then go to the bank at that time.

Typically this only makes sense if the borrower is walking into a lot of upfront equity, has rental properties with equity that they are willing to cross-collateralize (we don't mind taking a 2nd lien behind stable 30-yr mortgages), or in conjunction with other private money or seller financing in junior lien positions.We're not competitive if the borrower is just buying something off the MLS and doesn't have any other properties to cross; we'd be 25-30% down instead of the 10-15% down that you see everywhere nowadays. 

It's no guarantee but it's a good place to start.

Any prospective resident with bad credit or a prior eviction is going to have an impossible time finding a place to live.  

I ended up spending a lot of money on both of these repairs, because I had to get a large portion of the main sewage line replaced.