Most people are well familiar with the traditional types of bank lending many individuals use to finance purchases like homes and vehicles. However, when you’re interested in real estate investing, there are other options you should explore. In Arizona, hard money lending is a viable option to help you more easily purchase the properties you want to use as either rental properties or to renovate and flip for a profit. Regardless of what type of real estate investing you’re interested in getting involved in, it’s essential to have a firm understanding of what hard money lending is and how it can benefit you.
What Is Hard Money Lending?
Traditional loans often require extensive credit checks and income verifications in order to be approved for the loan. This is where hard money loans are different. These loans are typically asset based and simply require you to have a valid property to put down as collateral. Hard money loans are most often obtained from individual investors or companies that specialize in this type of lending, rather than more traditional banking institutions. This means they aren’t likely to complete any of the income verifications and credit checks typically used to determine loan eligibility. Instead, they will look at the property you are interested in buying and put money up to fund the project as an investment. You are able to get the funds more quickly than traditional bank loans, but it’s essential to remember hard money loans are used for a shorter time, making them ideal for those who purchase properties, fix them up and sell them for a profit. In most situations, they are used to increase the value of the property.
How Do They Work?
When you’re ready to take on one of these real estate projects, you’ll need to put together a proposal that includes current details about the property, such as the purchase price and what type of property it is. This information must be presented to a prospective lender in order to let them see what they are investing in. However, it’s not just about the current state of the property. They will also want to know what types of improvements will be made, how much those will cost and a projection of the increase in value. This can help them decide whether your project is worth the investment. Rather than being concerned about your financial ability to pay back the loan through credit checks and income verification, they are far more interested in the value of the property and what kind of turnaround it will see. Because of the way these hard money loans are set up, if you fail to pay back the loan in the agreed upon timeframe, they are able to seize the property and sell it themselves to regain the money they’ve lost. This is why a collateral-based hard money loan can be beneficial to all involved without worrying about credit and income guidelines usually used to determine loan eligibility.
It’s important to note hard money loans typically only last between a few months and three years, giving you enough time to improve a property and sell it for a profit. Because the timeframe is so short, you can also expect higher interest rates, ranging between 10 and 18 percent. While this may seem like a disadvantage, the potential in this real estate investment opportunity far outweighs the interest rates.
