Hard Money Loans for Investors

Hard Money Loan.

As a real estate investor there may come a time that it is to your advantage to get a Hard Money Loan (HML, bridge loan, private financing or equity based loan) for a transaction that you can not get financing from a conventional lending. As a matter of fact even if the rate and fees may be higher on an HML it may be better for you even if you qualify for conventional financing. These short term bridge loans can help you close a “HOT” real estate investment deal and utilize creative financing that you may not have been able to employ using conventional financing. Ultimately the goal is to make money. Private money programs are designed to do just that. They help the borrower make money as well as the lender, with as little red tape as possible.

How to Qualify for a Hard Money Loan.

The underwriting by HML lenders is different from conventional. Yet the criteria reviewed is the same. Basic underwriting reviews the 4 C’s of credit. They are Collateral, Capacity, Credit and Character. Each criteria is looked different based on the program. Let us compare the two.

Collateral.

Whether conventional or bridge financing both place a heavy emphasis on the property, which is the collateral. From a conventional perspective the value is always based on the lower of the purchase price or the appraisal. Another important factor is ownership seasoning. Standard guidelines view the value as the lower of the appraised value or purchase price for the first 12 months of ownership. A Hard Money Lender will consider the After Rehab Value with minimal consideration to purchase price. As such a conventional lender may lend 80% of the value to an investor while a HML lender only lends 65% of the ARV. The 65% may actually be higher.

Capacity.

This is the ability to repay the loan. For the tradition investor loan the lender reviews the income verses the debt and bases the approval on an acceptable maximum debt to income ratio. Where the bridge loan lender reviews the file they want to make sure the borrower has a solid exit strategy to pay off the loan completely. If they require monthly payments they do review debt ratio’s to insure the borrower can make the payments. The ability to repay the loan is important in both situations because all lenders want their money back to make more loans. Contrary to popular belief Private lenders do not want the property. If they did they would just invest in below market distressed property. They have the money. No, they are in the loan business. They make their money by making short term loans and reinvesting the proceeds to make more short term loans.

Credit.

While excellent credit is essential to a convention financing source it is not so important to a Hard money lender. If your exit strategy is to refinance the property the lender wants to ensure you can. But if you are going to sell, they are more concerned that you have a buyer that qualifies to buy the property. This goes back to the importance of a solid exit strategy.

Character.

A conventional lender really can not and does not make personal character determinations about a borrower. They only look for compensating factors like time on the job and stability factors. Savings and assets are important as well. For a bridge program, the lender can talk to the borrower, review their experience and they have much more flexibility based on their feel for a borrower. After all this is private money and no one can dictate who the lender will lend their money to when it is for business and investment purposes.

Real Estate Investor.

With this information in hand a real estate investor can know where they need to improve to guarantee their real estate investment project. As a HML broker All Dominion can evaluate your deal and suggest areas of improvement, helping you to qualify and preparing you to make lots of money as a real estate investor.