If you are planning to pay the HELOC back after each flip but then draw it right back out to buy the next one, you will have a loan balance most of the time and a refinance might work just as well for you.

The vast majority of "regular" or traditional (Conv/Govt) mortgages are originated by specialty lenders and brokers and are sold in the secondary market to provide yield on bank balance sheets (think Chase or BoA) or to be securitized into MBS.

Held in my property entity that I purposely keep a low balance and doesn’t show a lot of income.

Our loan balance is $640k (rolled a HELOC that we used to buy a triplex into the primary mortgage back in 2020) on a 30-year fixed @ 2.85%.

The note investor who thought interest is paid on the original principal rather than the unpaid principal balance.  

Balance (compromise) and communication are key in situations like this.

While it’s a helpful quick filter, the bigger picture—appreciation, tax benefits, loan paydown, and compounding growth—often tells a much better story over 5-10 years.The key is balancing cash flow and long-term gains.

When you are on the commercial side of the bank, and borrowing on the bank's balance sheet, they have a lot more flexibility to how they handle loans.  

The new property has to perform enough better than what you have to pay the higher interest rate on the higher balance, AND ADDITIONAL profit just to payback the $65k you lost selling.

And, having ready access to capital allowed us to scale more quickly.  2) Because the compensation is so balanced, it makes passive investing much more attractive.