Private Hard Money Lenders – Choose the One, Which Suits You Best!

Private Hard Money Lenders – Choose the One, Which Suits You Best!

I want to talk about the core difference between private and institutional lenders. An institution is basically a bank or a credit union, which provides funding for different stuff.

On the other hand, private is more about a bunch of people, who works under a private organization, which works towards helping people buying and selling good deals by providing financing. They are not held by government or any other regional organization but they work by themselves and use their own money.

Now, we come down to two basic types of lenders in the world of real estate:

1. Institutional lenders

These are the hard money lenders, who are a part of a bank or any other federal organization and they work with them. Although, it is quite difficult to get a loan from them because they look at lots of things including the borrower’s credit history, job, bank statements etc.

These are only stuffs that institutional hard money lenders are concerned about. They don’t have a real estate background, that’s why; they don’t care much about the worth of a property. Even, if you have a good deal, they won’t lend you unless your credit or job history is satisfactory.

There’s a huge gap between institutional lenders and real estate investors, which isn’t easy to fill.

2. Private hard money lenders

Private money lenders are usually real estate investors and therefore, they understand the needs and demands of a borrower. They aren’t regulated by any federal body and that’s why, they have their own lending criteria, which are based upon their own real estate understandings.

Their main concern is property and not the borrower’s credit history or bank statement. The motto of private hard money lenders is simple: If you have a good deal in hand, they will fund you, no matter what. But if you take a crap deal to them, then they won’t fund you, even if you have excellent credit history because they believe that if you’ll make money, then only they would be able to make profit.

If you have found a hard money lender but he or she hasn’t got any experience in real estate investment, then they won’t be able to understand your deal. They will always think like a banker.

A true private money lender is one, who can help you in evaluating the deal and giving you a proper direction and funding if you find a good deal. But if the deal is bad, they will tell you straight away. Before rehabbing a property, they know what would be its resale value, due to their extensive experience.

The basic difference between institutional hard money lenders and private hard money lenders is that the institutional lenders try to have everything in place and perfect order. They want to have all the figures and the amount of profit they would be making. They completely ignore the main asset, i.e. the property.

Whereas, private money lenders use their own fund and experience to realize what’s store for them. They don’t try to sell the paper or recapitalize. They just look at the property and see if it is worthy enough to rehab or not.

In the end, they just want to make good profits along with the borrower. If anyone goes to them with a good deal, they will fund them. Some of them only fund for the property, whereas, others gives funding for the repairs too as long as they can see a good ROI.


Real Estate Investment Financing

So you’ve made the calls, you braved the elements and headed out to look at properties in search of the deal and now you’ve found it. The next step is to determine which method of real estate investment financing you will use.

It depends a few things like whether you want to hold onto the property or resell it quickly or how much cash you are putting into the deal and how much you are borrowing. It depends on what your credit looks like.
Will you want monthly interest payments or do would you prefer to pay on the back-end. Should you use your cash or someone else’s cash?
Much of this will depend on your strategy and personal resources.
Real estate investment financing can take many forms. I’ll break it down simply into three categories.
Bank Financing
If you have the credit and the necessary down payment, you can get a loan from a bank or mortgage broker. When going this route it is important to make sure you factor in monthly costs such as taxes and insurance and make sure your budget will cover the monthly note.
Six months of mortgages with no income can strip all your profit out and leave you working for nothing.
If you’re buying rehab-grade property the bank might get picky, since the property will be their collateral after all. They might not like the idea of financing a property that isn’t reasonably habitable.
Another thing to keep in mind with banks is that you will pay a higher interest rate on non-owner occupied loans
Cash
Cold, hard cash is King when buying properties below market value. The ability to act quickly and not wait for bank approvals is key to acquiring distressed property or other-wise untouchable property.
If you don’t have your own cash for the deal, you can use a hard money lender.
Hard money lenders will be local investors most likely but there are some mid-size companies in the hard money business. Most will charge close to double the interest rate a bank will, plus extra points for funding the deal.
Many hard money lenders are long-time real estate investors that have branched out and will understand the process better than most bankers. They will care less about your credit than they will if you have a good deal or not.
Hard money lenders will only do business with you if you’re buying the property at or below 65-70% of the After Repair Value.
Another route is to find your own private investors to put up the cash and split the profits on the back end. Give the investor a 1st position on the property as collateral.
In this way, both private investors and hard money lenders can potentially make more money if you default by foreclosing and completing the project themselves.
Creative Financing
Many real estate investors specialize in buying homes with little or no money down.
They achieve it through a variety of ways that fall under the umbrella of “Creative Deals”. They’re usually situations in which the owners are in distress due to foreclosure, bankruptcy, divorce, or any other situation that creates urgency to sell quickly.
Methods include the Lease-Option, in which you lease the property with the option to buy later. You can assume the existing mortgage. In some situations the owner of the property can simply quitclaim the deed to you in exchange for taking over payments.
With creative deals make sure you have a good real estate attorney on your side making sure your doing everything legally and that all parties are well informed of their rights.
Any of these methods can allow you to finance or gain control of the property so you can then apply your strategy for wealth, whether it be renting it out or reselling.

Recent Comments

    Although Magna Enterprises, LLC and Magna Capital Group, Inc. are referred to throughout the text of this website as Magna Group of companies, they are not affiliates, parent or subsidiary companies as both companies are separate and distinct entities. Any questions or issues regarding this disclaimer should be addressed in writing c/o Shawn Molem.