If your accountant says you should not go for a HELOC, what is the alternative that accountant has in mind? Securing the loan with the house, if you have indeed $400k of equity, will get you a lower APR than any CC you could app for, and it just becomes one more item to include in the refi process. I'm not sure why the accountant thinks it will take away from a "meaningful" refi. Either the HELOC needs to be paid off at the refi, or the CC debt needs to be paid off, not much difference in the refi app because they won't want to leave that CC debt hanging out there with the new mortgage.
I'm a little confused by the numbers involved. You say you have $400k of equity, are paying $4k per month in mortgage costs, which implies a very expensive house that now has structural issues, after you've owned it for a year?
How much is the quote for the repair cost, and how solid is the quote? With these house repairs, unless all the unknowns are known (very difficult to do) the original quote can go much higher, particularly structural items. How many months is it going to take to complete the repairs?
How much do you have outstanding on your existing credit cards? Available credit on those cards? It sounds like you've already used up the NFCU credit?
May be a DTI issue. 4k monthly on roughly 100k income is 40% mortgage by itself. That's a whole lot of mortgage, I'm so glad my area is cheaper (Texas).
This may also be why you are having issues with denials an CLI.
I would still press for HELOC rather than CCs it's much cheaper for you and that's what is important.
This may also be why you are having issues with denials an CLI.
I would still press for HELOC rather than CCs it's much cheaper for you and that's what is important.
@Anonymous wrote:Thanks for all the advice. Allow me to provide more info.
My accountant's suggestion was to borrow the money from family, but that's not going to work.
I was also turned down by my original mortgage broker who said we should wait until my wife's credit is better.
He suggested a personal loan.
The strucutral damage was only uncovered once we opened up the walls and ceilings in the space where we're planning to live.
There was both water and termite damage. The quote was to take care of that and do some strengethening work, that while it isn't
immediately dangerous, it may bite us in the ass later and cost more to reopen the ceilings and floors at a later date. We've had
several estimates and inspections by professional engineers and architects. Once we get the permits, it's about a 6-week process
to do that work and the finshing work so we can live there. Once the work is done, we'll be in a great position as it's in the new york market.
Rental income is already over 6K.
My util is currently 11% but will go up to around 35-40% when the Navy lines report.
A HELOC will also most likely be very difficult as I have to do it on the strngth of my CP alone as my wife's is not in a good state.
Therefore, the entire mortgage shows as my sole responsibility as opposed to one shared..
Yeah, I think you realize how re-un-dis-not this idea is. Borrowing from family has all kinds of hair on it.
So it sounds like you have a multi-family building? That does put some more perspective on the whole thing. A whole new level of challenges!
Regarding the Lowes and Home Depot cards, fine if you are buying supplies from there, but I'm guessing you are paying an outside contractor who would like real money and not store cards? 
Boy, I still think you should approach a bank or CU to see what kind of equity line you can get on the structure. At least open the conversation to understand if it is even an option. If your credit is already stressed/maxed, you need to look at available assets to pledge. The building is the most obvious asset to use. Plus, if you have 3? 4? More? rental units, you need to approach this more like a business, more professionally, and not a patchwork of using $1k CC and family loans (I can't believe that was even a suggestion...) to keep the business running.
Good luck!