HELOC Help and Advise!

[Chris Reynolds]

Hello all. I need a little advise on the the amount I am getting approved for on a HELOC. My home value is $290,000 and I owe $187,000. These numbers are rounded but are close enough to get accurate value. Below is a quote from the lender...

"In looking at the value of your property the tax value will only get you $26,000; therefore, we will need to get an appraisal to get you a bigger line of credit. I looked at Zillow.com to see what the market value might support. Zillow shows $289,000 which would provide a line of $54,000. An appraisal fee will be about $500 and there would be no other closing costs associated with the loan. The appraisal could come in higher or lower than the Zillow amount, but usually within $10K of that figure. The appraiser will look at the last 6 months of sales in the area to determine market value."

They also stated that I would not qualify myself due to insufficient income. Is it normal for them to look at my income when they know the money is going to be used for investment purposes? Something seems off about this and I just can't put my finger on it. This is also my first leap towards "getting it done" and this might be normal operating procedure. What do you guys think?