When you send a deal to a hard money lender, what are they actually looking at? Here’s the honest answer from the lender’s side of the table, and how to put your deal together so you get a fast yes.
1. The property
This comes first, because the property is the collateral. If something goes wrong, the property is what protects the loan.
What I’m asking:
- Is it a genuine investment property? We only lend on non-owner-occupied real estate, never someone’s home.
- What’s it worth today, as-is?
- What will it be worth after the renovation?
- How easy is it to resell? A 3/2 in a solid neighborhood is easy. A one-of-a-kind property in the middle of nowhere is not. The harder a property would be to sell, the more conservative the loan.
A rough house doesn’t scare me. Plenty of great flips start ugly. What matters is whether the value is there.
2. The numbers
I’ll look at:
- Purchase price. Did you buy it right?
- Rehab budget. Is it realistic for the scope? An underfunded rehab is one of the most common ways flips go wrong.
- ARV. Are your comps actually comparable? (See how to estimate ARV.)
- The spread. After purchase, rehab, financing, holding, and selling costs, is there real profit left?
I’ll run my own comps and usually check with a local agent too. If my numbers and yours are close, that’s a great sign.
3. The exit
How does the loan get paid back? Either:
- Sale: what’s the realistic timeline to renovate and sell?
- Refinance: if you’re keeping it as a rental, will it qualify for long-term financing once it’s done?
A clear exit with a realistic timeline goes a long way.
4. The borrower
Experience helps. If you’ve done ten flips, that tells me you know how to manage contractors and budgets. But it’s not everything. A first-timer with a great deal, a realistic budget, and a good team (agent, contractor, title company) can absolutely get funded.
Borrowers also provide a personal guarantee. That’s standard across the industry, and it keeps everyone aligned.
5. The closing basics
To close, every loan needs:
- A signed purchase contract
- First-lien position for the loan
- A title company to close through, with a lender’s title policy
- Property insurance with the lender named as mortgagee, paid at closing
None of that is unusual, but having it lined up early is what makes a fast close possible.
How to package your deal for a fast yes
Send all of this in your first message:
- Property address
- Purchase price and closing date
- Scope of work and rehab budget (a line-item list is great)
- Your ARV and the 3–5 comps you used
- Exit plan: sell or refinance, and your timeline
- Your experience, even if it’s “this is my first one”
- Your title company, if you have one
A complete package can get an answer in hours. A vague “I’ve got a house, can you lend on it?” usually takes several rounds of back and forth.
Ready?
Send us your deal. I’ll look at it personally and tell you straight whether it’s a fit.
Related: Fix & flip loans · How it works
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