These days, getting funding for your handyman specials from hard money lenders are getting harder as their requirements become more rigid. Traditionally, getting funding from these private lenders was almost as swift as their speed of driving by the property involved in the deal for inspection.  At the present real estate climate, however, many of these lenders may check on the tax returns, bank statements and current pay slips of borrowers. For this reason, some REI’s may be seeking for other financial fountainheads to fund their deals. Usually in their search for alternative source, they give Federal Housing Administration’s 203K loans the brush-off.

Giving 203K Loans A Second Thought

Ever since the Department of Housing and Urban Development set down the moratorium on investor involvement in the 203k Rehabilitation Program, ethical REI’s avoid this loan program lest they be… Read the rest

Avalanche of Money Lenders Replaces Customary Lunch with Private Investors

Luncheons with a coterie of investors with deep pockets used to be the avenue that lead real estate investors to the Land of Ready Cash. Today, however, more and more private lending companies are purveying rehab loans to rehabbers and real estate investors who want to renovate their rental properties. The government is also offering rehab funding with terms and conditions varying from city to city.

A real estate investor does not have to go far to look for a rehab loan. Skipping the need for leafing through the menu of the restaurant where private investors’ money were used to be raised, a cash-hungry real estate investor can instead browse the Internet for a list of lenders for this kind of loan. For the newbie, however, selecting the lenders… Read the rest

If banks are your only source of funding for your real estate deals, then you must be moving slow and missing on great real estate deals. A fledgling real estate investor may do well if he includes in his network a number of hard money lenders. These are private lenders, who could be private individuals or lending companies, who provide short-term loans to fund real estate deals. The loan amount granted will depend on the value of the property in question, which is also put up as collateral. Despite their appellation, they can, in several ways, make a real estate investor’s life easy.

Hard Money Lenders for the Fast and the Serious

In real estate investing, it pays to move fast. And the fuel to your speed is liquidity. If cash is at your fingertips, you can attract great… Read the rest

Short-Term Loans

A hard money lender makes short-term loans based on the value of an asset, in this case a property, with little regard to the borrower’s credit and/or finances.  Hard money lenders charge higher interest rates than standard banks due to the high risk nature of these loans.  Unlike traditional banks, hard money lenders can provide funds quickly, usually in 10-14 days, to purchase and rehab distressed properties.  These properties can be in need of significant repairs or be in various stages of foreclosure. This makes these loans popular with first time real estate investors that have little working capital or poor credit scores.  Look to use hard money loans to rehab foreclosures as your means to purchase and rehab your first couple properties.

Rehabber Loans

Hard money lenders will only provide loan terms of 4 – 6 months at… Read the rest

Smart investors will get pre-approved to refinance their hard money loan prior to obtaining the loan!  Hard money lenders are not in the business of lending their money for the long term.  They will not refinance your project once complete.  Even if the plan is to sell the property for a handsome profit, one never knows what may happen so be prepared to deal with any scenario.

Rehab finance is not a topic that every mortgage broker or banker is familiar with.  I have learned this lesson the hard way and almost lost a property due not being able to find a suitable end lender for my first rehab project.  Especially in today’s difficult financial and real estate market, the rehab investor MUST have a solid exit strategy when using short term loans.

I once thought that if I… Read the rest

For investors with little to no cash to start with, hard money loans should be considered as the first financing option for buying and fixing foreclosures.  Looking for private investors at the beginning of one’s rehab investing career is difficult due to the lack of experience and no proven track record which is very important to private lenders.  For those investors with some cash to invest, look to the local community bank in the neighborhood you are planning to do business in for your best lending options.

Not all community banks are the same, but there will usually be at least one bank that is tied into the community with investor friendly programs to rehab realestate in the local community.  Rehabbers provide an important service that commercial builders and large corporations cannot compete with.  Rehabbers keep their overhead low… Read the rest