Property TypeS – Hard Money Loans
Real estate investors often choose hard money and private money loans to acquire, refinance, construct or renovate properties. Hard money loans provide short-term capital for a variety of needs on nearly every property type.
Since 2013, First Capital Trust Deeds (FCTD) has specialized in providing mortgages for real estate investors, specifically hard money loans.
To date, the company has originated nearly $2.5 billion in loans for investor clients.
FCTD provides financing on the following property types:
Agricultural Loans
Farmers and ranchers, whose circumstances may disqualify them from traditional bank financing, often
turn to hard money loans. Private lenders lend against the farmland or agricultural property (and
sometimes equipment) by filing a UCC-1 financing statement that extends additional credit to meet the
borrower’s needs.
Assisted Living Facility/Senior Living Loans
Assisted and senior living facility operators or investors can use hard money financing to buy or renovate
such properties. Hard money is used as a short-term bridge loan until the operators have either
renovated or leased the property to a level required by SBA lenders.
Automotive and Gas Station Loans
Automotive repair shop and gas station owners sometimes use hard money loans to acquire, or
reposition debt against one or many properties.
Cannabis Loans
FCTD has extensive experience financing cannabis properties used for cultivation, research or retail.
Cannabis property loans range from 1-year bridge loans to 15-year fully amortizing loans.
Hospitality – Hotel/Motel Loans
Hotel and motel owners use hard money loans to acquire properties in need of a complete renovation
or underperforming assets ineligible for SBA or institutional financing. FCTD has secured financing on
both flagged and independent hospitality properties.
Industrial Property Loans
It’s common to see owner operators of industrial properties use a hard money bridge loan in first or
second position to finance property improvements or invest in new manufacturing equipment.
Land Loans
Real estate developers, home builders and business owners who want to expand their facilities will use a
fast-closing hard money loan to purchase land or reposition the existing debt on the land. Hard money
land loans are often cross-collateralized with a fully improved property since land values can fluctuate
throughout real estate cycles.
Mobile Home Park Loans
Hard money loans can be a viable option for investors who want to acquire or improve a mobile home
park property, but are unable to secure institutional bank or life company financing.
Medical Office Building Loans
Private money lenders can close fast —within a few days — if an investor needs to move quickly on a
property and their bank financing is delayed. Or, if the property has a high percentage of vacancies, a
hard money bridge loan can help them purchase and stabilize it before an owner takes out a long-term
bank loan.
Mixed-Use Loans
FCTD has worked to provide hard money ground-up construction financing for builders and developers
that construct mixed-use projects. We’ve also secured renovation funding for long-time owners to
maximize their home’s sale price prior to listing.
Office Building Loans
During the past decade, FCTD has facilitated hard money financing for office building and office
condominium owners. These range from 5-story suburban offices, to single-level offices and office
condominiums.
Parking Lot Loans
Real estate investors will sometimes use a 24-36-month hard money loan to purchase a downtown area
parking lot. This 2-3-year window gives them a runway to complete all pre-development activities,
including entitlements, engineering, legal work, public review — and numerous other items that must
be cleared before the first shovel goes into the ground.
Retail/Strip Mall Loans
Some strip mall investors buy underperforming properties at what they consider a steep discount to
future potential value. These investors will use their own capital for the down payment and renovations,
and a hard money loan to increase their leverage. Upon renovating or installing new tenants at market
rents, they’ll either flip the property at full price or refinance into institutional financing, optimizing their
monthly cash flow.
Self-Storage Loans
Commercial self-storage property owners may use a 6-24-month hard money loan before refinancing
into an SBA 504 loan for 10, 20 or 25 years.
Single Family Residential Loans
Most loans FCTD has funded over the past decade have been against single family residential properties.
We excel at financing this property type and can find programs and terms that meet the needs of most
single family investors.
Warehouse Loans
Warehouse and logistics facilities have been in increased demand since the COVID-19 pandemic
significantly altered the way consumers shop. Beginning in 2020, these properties have seen higher
leverage with hard money lenders as the need for space has increased.
