Cash-out refinancing can be a great way to leverage equity, but there are other strategies you might want to consider to hit your goals faster.1.1031 Exchange: Rather than just refinancing, you could trade up to larger or better-cash-flowing properties tax-free through a 1031 exchange.

In most cases, it would not come up in the appraisal process for a HELOC.   

Also I feel like I could offer more with seller financing, but confused on how to come up with that amount of $$$ for the rehab, pay off the balloon AND construction loan.

This timeframe accounts for:- Completion of Work and Lease-Up: Ensuring the project is fully leased and operational.- Interest Rate Adjustments: Interest rate cuts may not happen as quickly or as significantly as expected.

My partner is from the Midwest, and we’ve briefly brought up the area.

I do a lot of deals that HML simply wont do..

In the hard money world this gets brought up a lot.

My favorite has 5 bedrooms up and 2-3 down.

Having been in many aspects of real estate throughout my career my favorites are ground up construction and note investing. right now note investing takes the cake as it can be done in any environment whereas ground up right now is very challenging. 

Typically 1k and up depending on property value and competition for taking it off market.