My HELOC on my personal house has been a great tool, and even as a second position, the interest is super cheap compared to my private money alternatives. 

The best advice I didn't get is that there are alternatives to using your own money for down payments.

@Cherie Orellana, thanks for the ideas on alternate ways to keep the money in my pocket.

They will tell you if a probate is needed or if there is an alternative. 

.  +/- 400k based on my calculations + app 86k in reserves required by most lenders (6 months for each property)Some alternatives to straight buy/hold 20% down purchasing as above include utilizing: 1031's, Non Qualified Loan Assumptions or other alternative acquisition strategies. 

You should also consider the alternative that (1) since they know nothing of the probate case they (2) may not be the heirs. 

@Daniel TisdaleThe alternative is just buying another rental and staying where you are.

Alternatively, you can order a cost seg study at that time.

I don't' mean "how could you ever," I mean literally, what do you offer to beat the alternative: foreclosure. 

The first alternative analyzed will focus on a cash-out refinance scenario utilizing the available “pulled” net cash proceeds for reinvestment into a new properties.