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Ted is the managing broker for FCTD with 20+ years mortgage industry experience. His focus is bridge loans and long-term rental financing.
Yes, hard money lenders check credit when they underwrite a new loan application. Even though credit scores aren’t the primary deciding factor to getting approved for a private loan, credit history does play a factor on whether you’ll be able to get funding.
If you’re facing foreclosure, you’re probably searching for ways to save your property from potential sale at auction. Logically, this makes complete sense since many people associate hard money loans with low or bad credit scores. However, as I’ll explain, using a hard money loan to stop foreclosure is not as easy as you’d think. I’ll detail what you need to know, what you’ll need to document, and what your options look like.
Hard money loans are considered "cash" in instances where the property seller mandates the buyer pay with cash rather than with bank financing. You’ll see this in real estate listings where the property has an extensive amount of deferred maintenance, or when the property owner needs to sell fast to acquire another property or meet an immediate deadline.
Yes, nearly all hard money loans are interest-only, with only a few loans having a fully amortizing payment structure.
An average person — and even real estate agents or conventional mortgage lenders — may have some questions on how hard money loans work. Maybe you know that more equity in the property, in the 30-40% range, is required than with a typical loan. Hard money loans are generally considered asset-based, so lenders used to look at the protective equity position (the difference between the real estate value and the loan amount) to decide if it was a good loan. But that mentality has changed significantly, as hard money loan requirements have expanded to keep pace with the demands of an ever-evolving industry.
Hard money loans are a popular option for borrowers to quickly fund real estate projects with minimal documentation. However, these loans come with specific risks and challenges. Borrowers need to know the most common mistakes when applying for and using these loans. In this blog post, we'll discuss the top five common mistakes to avoid with hard money loans.
If you’re like most people, you always buy or refinance with a traditional 30-year fixed rate mortgage. You've never considered using a hard money loan — and maybe aren't sure what it actually is. But, there is an entire group of people in the real estate profession who use these short-term private loans several times each year to buy, sell and renovate properties. This blog post will explain who these people are, and why they're a good fit for a hard money loan.
Hard money loans for bad credit used to be a thing back in the housing bubble years of 2003-2007. Borrowers with low credit scores (350 to 550) or recent foreclosure activity could get a hard money loan — assuming they had enough equity in their property, which was often the main qualifier for financing.
Every week, FCTD receives inquiries from people who are not good matches for hard money loans. It's important to remember that hard money loans are primarily used by real estate investors as short-term financing solutions to acquire vacant commercial properties, or properties needing major renovations before qualifying for long-term bank financing. This active and experienced real estate investor is the ideal borrower, and best positioned to secure hard money loans. But in this blog post, I want to discuss the opposite – the borrower who is not a good fit for a hard money loan – and suggest alternative solutions better suited to these financing needs. It can be frustrating to waste time pursuing a loan that just doesn’t exist in the hard money lending world.
If you’re new to hard money lending, you’re probably not familiar with the pricing structure or what “normal” hard money loan pricing, interest rates, fees, and closing costs look like. This is perfectly normal. Unless you’re a homebuilder or active real estate investor using hard money several times each year, you shouldn’t know about these types of loans. Hard money loans are often a loan of last resort for buyers whose bank loan applications are turned down at the last minute.
