Free/clear real estate is not.”Person A buys a $100k house, pays all cash (into it for $100k).Person B buys $100k in balanced index funds (into it for $100k).Person C buys a $100k house, putting 25% down (into it for just $25k).Person D keeps $100k in a checking account (into it for $100k).OMG INFLATION!!!

@Aaron Lemoine, the loan you have has in it whats called the "acceleration clause" which means if you transfer title to the property, they can make the remaining balance of the loan due immediately.

The issue that I need help with is my HELOC monthly payment is 1% of my balance, so its always changing.

On the surface what I normally see in these cases are Real Estate agents that disappear after the sale because they comped the rent value too high, followed by an inexperienced PM that has a hard time explaining WHY the rent price is too high, and finally an investor that put his trust in all the wrong people to achieve their goals. 

Because you will be "overpaying" the "mortgage" it will snowball equity, quickly reducing your interest burden.If you did nothing else but deposit the whole rent payment into the account each month, you would pay off the balance in the HELOC within 10 or 11 years.

You need a balance between cash flow and quality. 

And second, what kind of strategy are you hoping will help you achieve that goal. 

Lenders don't want you to keep that balance for 30 years paying it down slowly.

There will always be a balance between finding deals and financing. 

Some more conservative banks might be higher on down payment but will give very low rates yes dscr, dti, credit score, personal and business income/balance sheet all play a role.