Hi @Chris Anderson,The Black Diamond REIA is in Waltham and alternates monthly meetings between Waltham and Worcester.

It's actually cheaper or the same cost as a lot of alternatives.

However, many circa-1900 midwest houses, as an example,  originally had painted, Southern yellow pine floors -- faux and decorative floor paint techniques were not at all uncommon in lieu of more expensive materials.

the HELOC will be based on appraised value...appraisals are hard to predict, but you have a huge equity position...so even if it comes back conservative, you should be good...credit unions are your best bet...better on fees and higher LTV....but you should shop to confirm.The alternative for you is putting a loan in place and using the delayed finance exception...try to take cash out.

As another alternative, buy another property so that the value of the two together totals more than $75K (should be pretty easy), and get a blanket mortgage which covers both properties. 

To get to the point, I’d like to refinance and move the money to other properties but I’m not sure if my credit is strong enough for a conventional loan but I’m not fully versed in alternative financing options. 1.

Then we sold our expensive stuff (replaced cars with cheaper alternative, cancelled subscriptions, etc), rented our primary home, moved into a cheaper apartment, bought a duplex and then a SHF to fix and rent and we went from there acquiring properties, living in them and eventually renting them out for passive income.

The alternative of refinancing your current home -- definitely do that NOW before you move out of the home, then you can re-instate your VA benefit and re-use it.

So some of the things your group needs to consider is:1) whether everyone will be active or not2) if some will be passive, are they getting compensated in equity or debt3) if there some passive investors, will the costs associated with syndication justify using this structure. if not, what are the alternatives. perhaps giving all partners a role to keep them active.All has to be discussed with a securities attorney. 

It's like BRRRR for houses but for notes and it's the secret to being a lender and not running out of cash :-)and an alternative to selling  a partial were you get hammered for discount and fees.