I'm curious how the HELOC process was and if you would recommend someone else doing the same thing. 

We managed to use a heloc with 1.9% to purchase a 2/2 condo for 25k.  

My vote, is to take out a HELOC or better yet an ALL in 1 Mortgage, leverage your equity to acquire multiple rental units, have the tenant pay down the debt over time and set yourself up for $8K + a month in passive income.  

Have you tried looking for a local bank that does portfolio lending or HELOC on investment property.  

Dennis Standers I used a heloc from my primary residence for the down payment on rental property #2 and #3.

Get a HELOC; you can pay it down when you have extra cash, and draw on it in a heartbeat when a new deal comes your way.

This particular rehab is going to be close on funds. my thought is a heloc with the two paid off houses. and this will provide me with the funds I need to do either another purchase or to finish rehab.

Go to your local banks, and see if you can get a HELOC on the property.  

This got me thinking however...I'm curious, how viable of a strategy would it be to buy a house that needs work and fix it up with the fha 203k loan instead, then take out a heloc for the value you've built up by doing the necessary work on the property and potentially using the money from the heloc for a down payment for a second rental property?

I am purchasing a 4 unit property that will need significant renovations that I expect to take a total of 8-10 weeks.I will be purchasing it with cash (mostly my HELOCs) and doing a refinance when it is renovated and occupied.