My DH and I own rental property and 2 story porch needs to be torn down and rebuilt sometime in the next year. I am finding that I cannot obtain a Home Equity Loan on a non-owner occupied home. Are there any suggestions on how to obtain a loan? We do not want to dip into our $ and the interest paid is all tax deductable.

TIA :)

First, mortgage interest paid on an investment property is not tax deductible. The entire mortgage payment (along with property taxes and maintenance costs) is a tax write-off, which is even better. You use it to counter the rental income you recieve from the property, and you should be filling out a Schedule E (Supplemental Income and Loss) with your 1040's.

Second, instead of a Home Equity Line of Credit, look into a normal fixed rate and term second mortgage for your cash out needs or, with interest rates still quite low (and your cash out needs probably somewhat large), consider refinancing the existing first mortgage. You will find (if you haven't already) that lenders will not lend as much against the equity of an investment property as they will with an owner-occupied residence (i.e. lower maximum LTV, or loan-to-value ratio). If you already are at a high LTV the rental, look into financing on your primary residence if it has more equity or room to lend against. You won't be able to write-off the payment like on the rental, but the interest will still be tax deductible, and the interest rate will be lower, the closing costs less, and approval process easier.

Good luck.

Thanks...I do not want toot refinance because the mortgage companies have a much higher interest rate for non owner occupied properties. Right now I have a good rate and I just refinanced about 2 yrs ago when we purchased our other home. I was looking for home equity loans since I do not have a high LTV on my property. I have at least $250K equity after what I owe on the property.

Thanks for the advice.