My fear with doing the latter is the fact that a HELOC is looked at like any other revolving line of credit and that would badly impact my DTI...any thoughts?

Thank you so much so do credit matter for real estate?

3) Is there a usual or standard amount/percentage for the Option Fee, rent credits, and any other fees/charges?

Do you have a business line of credit by chance? 

You can choose credit only or credit plus criminal & rental history. 

I called a few credit unions local there, and they told me I have to live in the area to be a member and ultimately to take out a loan. 

. $1.1 mil + equity in my property (no liens, and very good credit score)Since I am running a business on my first level of my home, I couldn’t find any financial institution to secure me a HELOC (apart from point.com which doesn’t seem a good deal for me)…apparently, the lenders don’t like mixed commercial/residential type of business (e.g. assisted living).

There is no advice or question here, you're just complaining, and complaining has a terrible return on investment. 

What if one persons income/credit score qualifies alone?

Outside of real estate, but someone looking for a business line of credit, or business financing for a non-real estate business.