Gone are the days when the thought of hard money lenders evoked images of shady lenders doing deals in dark alleys. Hard money lending has evolved into a reputable financing source for many people. There’s a lot of things that hard money lenders can do for you.
The Benefits of Hard Money Lending
Fast Process
Traditional lenders engage in a slow process, even if you have a good income and a good credit score. Hard money lenders take a different approach. Hard money lenders lend based on the collateral securing the loan. With this approach, they are not concerned about how you can pay the loan back. A hard money lender will just take the collateral and sell it in order to get repaid. That being said, your collateral’s value takes precedence over your financial position. Because hard money lenders are focused on collateral, the loan can be closed much more quickly than a traditional one. Hard money lenders do linger going through your loan application with a fine-tooth comb. They don’t spend time reviewing your income or verifying your current income. As a result, the loan process moves more quickly than a traditional loan. You can close a deal quickly with a hard money lender. And that’s very important in a hot market. You’ve got to be able to move fast.
Flexibility
With a hard money lender, you get some flexibility when compared to a traditional loan. Each deal is evaluated individually, instead of utilizing a standardized underwriting process. In addition, a hard money lender is much more willing to talk with you. It may be possible for you to tweak some things, such as repayment schedules. Instead of dealing with a bank with strict policies, the policies of a hard money lender are flexible.
Approval
Since the most important criteria for a hard money lender is collateral, approval is much more likely. A hard money lender will lend only as much as the property’s worth. If you need to borrow against a different property, that’s the value of that property will be what the hard money lender is interested in. Negative items on your credit report or previous foreclosures are much less important to a hard money lender than a traditional lender. Keep in mind that many hard money lenders maintain loan-to-value ratios (LTV). Their maximum LTV ratio may be from 50 percent to 70 percent. That’s a low ratio and hard money lenders know that they can sell the property quickly to get their money back. So, you’ll need some assets to qualify for a hard money loan. The bottom line is that your approval is much greater with a hard money lender.
Keep in mind that hard money loans make good sense for short term loans. That’s why so many fix-and-flip investors use hard money loans. Investors own the property just long enough to increase the value of the property. Then, they sell the property and repay the loan. This is often done within a year. If an investor plans for a longer time, he usually refinances for a better loan.
All around, the benefits of hard money lending are good when you know what you’re doing.
