A 31-year-old used a HELOC to compete with all-cash offers on a house. 3 lenders to do the same

During the summer of 2023, Rachel Curry and her husband set out to buy their first home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with a strong application: a 20% down payment and stable careers. The couple toured about 30 houses and made five bids in three months. They lost all five, most of them to buyers who proposed all-cash offers, Curry was told by her realtor. The 31-year-old and her husband didn't have the liquidity to make the same type of offer. Curry's sixth and final bid was successful because she used a crafty strategy: She and her husband asked a relative to take out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) , which the couple would then repay. The $200,000 HELOC, combined with the $45,000 they had saved for a down payment, allowed them to make an all-cash offer on a house that eventually became their home. Shortly after their purchase, they took out a $250,000 30-year fixed-rate Discover home equity loan (which is no longer available) on their property and repaid their relative's HELOC in full. All in all, the process took between four and five months; they started looking in June and closed on their new home in October. "We're in a privileged position to have family members that can do this," Curry said. "It would open up the doors for more people to be able to get the house they want," Curry added, when discussing the HELOC strategy she used. …