Tag Archive for: beginner investors

When NOT To Use Hard Money For Real Estate Investing

Every form of leverage has its time and place. Here’s when not to use hard money.

You need all kinds of leverage as a real estate investor. Different investment problems will call for different kinds of debt solutions.

Hard money, banks, private equity, and OPM all have their time and place. However, there are times when certain lending methods just aren’t smart.

Hard money has a lot of important uses, but when should you not use hard money?

1. When It Costs More

The main time when not to use hard money is whenever it’s the more expensive option.

You get into real estate to make money. Saving money on the leverage for a deal is a top priority.

Hard money is one of the most expensive forms of leverage. If using hard money costs you more than any other lending option, that’s your first sign not to use hard money.

When Is Hard Money More Expensive?

Private equity funds and hard money lenders typically have around the same pricing. The real gap comes when you compare bank loans to hard money.

In a previous article about when you should use hard money, we went over an ideal situation for hard money. In this example, the speed of a hard money loan can get you such a good deal on a property that you wind up saving money.

However, that doesn’t always happen. The cost of the property might not change whether you have a hard money loan or bank loan. You might have plenty of time to wait for the cheaper but slower loan from the bank. In those cases, you almost always should not use hard money.

The interest rate and origination fee for hard money will almost always make it the more expensive loan. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of a hard money loan vs bank loan for the same property.

As you can see, when all else is equal, a hard money loan would cost you over $9,000 more.

Always, always go with the cheapest source of funds. In typical situations, bank loans and OPM will be cheaper than hard money or private equity.

2. When You Have Time

If speed isn’t a factor in getting a good deal, that’s a sign when not to use hard money.

Sometimes, speed at closing can mean the difference between getting a property and not getting it. Or, closing fastest could mean saving tens of thousands of dollars on a deal. Hard money is a good option then.

However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes a seller is willing to wait several weeks for a bank loan to clear in order to take a higher bid.

If time isn’t a consideration, then you probably shouldn’t use hard money.

3. When You Have Real OPM

OPM is money you get from real people you know. If OPM is available to you, you should always use it instead of hard money.

This form of leverage combines the speed and flexibility of a hard money lender with the price (or cheaper) of a bank loan.

If you can source and secure an OPM loan for a project, then there’s usually no reason to get hard money.

4. When You Already Have Money

It’s never smart to use a hard money loan when you already have cheaper funds available – especially when you have cash.

There’s no reason to pay a 9% interest rate when you could pay with a 0% rate, or use a cheaper line of credit like a HELOC.

A time when not to use hard money is when you have an equally flexible funding source that costs way less. In general, when you have cash available, stay away from leverage at all.

How Else Do I Know When Not to Use Hard Money?

What’s the right leverage for you? Are you doing it right? Are you using the best funds for your project?

Join our weekly call-in here, every Thursday at 1:15 PM to 2:15 PM MST to find out! Bring a specific question about a deal, and we can talk through the best option for you.

Happy Investing.

What Is the Best Real Estate Loan For Investing?

10 things to look for to find the best real estate loan for your investing.

You can get confused fast with real estate funding. 

What’s the difference between hard money and private money? Institutional lenders and bank lenders? And what even is OPM?

Most importantly – how do you know which lending option is best for you?

Our goal is to make sure you use the correct leverage for your real estate project:

  • What will fit your project?
  • What will be the most profitable for you?

Realistically, you need a little bit of everything.

Let’s go through the nuances of each leverage type, so you know the best real estate loan for your investments. Here are 10 qualities of real estate leverage to consider.

1. Speed

In real estate investing, most of your deals come down to speed. If you can close faster than another bidder, you can get the property – even if the other person offered more money.

Typically, the fastest lending options will be hard money and real OPM. 

OPM is using real people’s money, from family, friends, or anyone with money to lend. If you build a relationship with the right OPM lenders, this can be your fastest funding option. OPM can be one phone call and bank transfer away.

Although more expensive, hard money lenders can save you money in the long run with the savings you get from closing quickly on wholesale properties. Hard money lenders can potentially get you money within days (sometimes quicker).

Institutional lenders are fairly quick, typically taking two or three weeks, sometimes four.

Banks are usually the slowest at four or more weeks (unless you already have a line of credit set up, like a HELOC).

2. Credit Score

Credit is a major factor in the loan process. Requirements for credit scores have gone up over the last few months as money tightens. 

Institutions and banks have strict credit score requirements. The target for acceptable credit is constantly moving. Currently, you’ll have a tough time finding any loans with a score lower than 680. The best loans are available to people with a 740 and above.

Hard money lenders will check credit to make sure you’re not defaulting. But your actual score doesn’t have much bearing on your ability to get a loan.

OPM lenders aren’t as concerned with your actual credit score. OPM requirements will vary from person to person. But as long as you’re responsible in protecting their money, you can get an OPM loan.

3. Experience

Have you been in business for 2 years? Have you done enough transactions?

The toughest on experience are banks and institutional lenders.

Institutional lenders typically require three to five transactions over a three-year period. They’ll still consider you if you have less experience than that, but they’ll need a higher down payment.

Banks are the strictest. They usually want you to have five completed projects in recent years, plus at least two years of tax history on investment properties.

Hard money and OPM are the easiest on experience.

Hard money lenders care that you have a profitable deal. OPM lenders care that they get a return on their money. Neither lender will be overly concerned with your experience level. They’re more understanding that “you gotta start somewhere.”

4. Income

What lenders are concerned with your debt ratio? 

Banks are the only lenders that are always concerned with your income. 

Institutions look at the money you have in the bank, but not necessarily what you have coming in as income.

Hard money might look at your tax returns, but it won’t make or break your loan.

5. Underwriting

How does each lender look at your whole file? What is their criteria, and is it similar from lender-to-lender?

Institutional lenders have fairly consistent underwriting. They all basically require experience, 10 – 20% down, etc.

The other three types of lenders vary drastically.

Banks will always have some sort of requirements. But it’s different between large banks and small banks. Local banks will always be more interested in lending to investors.

Hard money and OPM both vary, too. You have to get to know the lenders in your area to get a feel for their requirements.

6. Flexibility

What if you need a loan for a rural property? Or what if some other unique situation pops up? Which lenders can be flexible with that.

Institutions and banks are the most fixed in what they offer. Institutional lenders loan only within MSAs. If a property is outside of city limits, they won’t offer any loans. Similarly, banks typically only lend within their footprint. You’ll have to talk to banks near you to learn those service areas.

Of course, hard money and OPM are more flexible with locations, funding plans, and more.

7. Pricing

Every loan has a cost.

Bank loans have a lot of limitations, but this is where they shine. Interest rates and origination fees will almost always be lowest at banks. Interest rates average around 5.5 – 6%, and fees are around 1 – 1.5 points.

OPM is also pretty cheap, and more flexible than banks. Your interest rate will depend on your lender, but there are usually little to no points with real OPM.

Institutional and hard money lenders will be the most expensive, with interest rates around 10 – 12% and fees at 2 – 3 points.

8. Verified Funds

It makes sense that lenders want to know that you’ll have enough money to pay them back. But lenders go about verifying funds differently.

Institutions and banks typically require two months of bank statements. They want to prove you have the money for the down payment, rehab costs, and any carry costs. These lenders emphasize how much money you have and where it came from. They often don’t allow gap funding.

Hard money and OPM lenders, however, are fine with gap funding. These lenders’ requirements vary, but generally, funds are not a major consideration.

9. Funds Available

How much money does the lender have to offer? Do they ever run out of money, or tell you you’ll have to wait a couple weeks before they have funds?

Typically, the places that have “unlimited” money are institutions and banks. Institutions are backed by Wall Street funds, and banks can always borrow from the Fed.

Hard money and OPM are a bit more limited. Hard money fund availability is based on how many investors they have. Real OPM is limited by the bank account of your lender. A downside of hard money and OPM is that money may run dry; there’s no guaranteed constant flow.

10. Multiple States

If you’re an investor who does deals in multiple states, who will be able to consistently help you? If you live in Oklahoma but invest in Texas, which lender can you count on?

Typically, institutions are your best bet for multi-state investments. If you need someone to grow with you state-to-state, this is your main option.

Many hard money lenders are local, and they focus their investments in a single community. Similarly, banks only lend within their region.

OPM’s multi-state lending ability depends on the client, but there is flexibility.

So What Is the Best Real Estate Loan?

All in all, there is no “best” real estate loan. Remember, you need all types of leverage for a flexible, lucrative investment career.

Each loan has its limitations and perks. Here’s a quick overview of each type of real estate loan.

More Info on Real Estate Loans

If you’re left with questions about the best leverage option for you, we’re here to help.

Email us at Mike@HardMoneyMike.com with questions about your deal.

Or join our weekly call here, every Thursday from 1:15 PM – 2:15 PM MST.

Text: "When to Use Hard Money"

5 Times You Should Use Hard Money for Your Real Estate Investments

Here are 5 ways to use hard money right as a real estate investor.

Real estate investing is all about making profit.

And sometimes, to make profit, you need to use hard money loans.

When is hard money your best option in real estate investing? Let’s look at 5 situations where you should use hard money to fuel your investments.

1. Using Hard Money for Speed

The number one way hard money makes you money in real estate investing is how fast they are.

Look at a real example from one of our clients.

He was able to buy a property in Colorado at a $30,000 discount.

Five other people were bidding as high as $330,000 on the property.

But our client was able to close in less than a week, so the sellers accepted his bid of $300,000.

How Much Does a Hard Money Loan Cost?

People can get tripped up with the cost of hard money. Wouldn’t the price of the loan leave our client at a loss here? Let’s compare his hard money loan on this deal to his competitors with a bank loan.

For hard money, he spent $7,500 on origination. A bank loan would have cost $4,500.

Six months’ worth of interest on the hard money loan adds up to $15,000. The same time on a bank loan would accrue $9,900 of interest.

Appraisal underwriting, and processing fees were lower with hard money at $984 (vs $1500 with the bank.)

Overall, our client did pay a lot more for the loan itself using hard money. His hard money loan cost $23,484, and a bank loan would have cost $15,525. That’s an extra cost of $7,959 to use hard money.

Can You Save Money by Using Hard Money for Real Estate?

Despite seeming more expensive, hard money still gave this investor a discount. Why? Hard money enabled him to close fast, so he got a better deal on purchase price.

What was the total cost of hard money? The discounted price of the property ($300,000) plus the hard money loan costs equals $323,484. 

What about the bank loan? The home price of $330,000 plus bank loan costs totals $345,525.

This is a savings of $22,041. Just for closing fast with hard money rather than using the cheaper but slower bank loan.

Using hard money for speed works even when the discount is smaller.

Let’s say our client had bid only 10,000 less than the other investors. He still would’ve saved $1,191 up front on the deal.

Hard Money Savings without a Purchase Price Discount

The option of buying real estate with bank loans is often cheaper. However, in many investment situations, using a bank loan is not a viable option.

If you have to wait 4 weeks to clear your bank loan, but only 4 days for a hard money loan… that becomes the difference between closing on the property or not.

Ultimately, even if using hard money doesn’t get you the lowest price, you still save money in the long run. If the speed of a hard money loan gets you a property, you will still come out on top.

Buying then selling a profitable fix-and-flip will always make more money than never buying and never selling.

2. Use Hard Money if You Have Low Credit

Institutional lenders, private equity, and banks have credit score minimums. If you don’t have a high enough score, you don’t get a loan.

Hard money lenders, on the other hand, are typically not credit-score-driven. Yes, they’ll probably look at your credit, but they won’t base your loan on it.

Real estate investors can have low credit scores for many reasons:

  • Usage – You put your flip rehab costs on credit cards
  • Thin Credit – You have few lines of credit, or young lines of credit
  • One-time Event – You had good credit, then life happened and your score temporarily dipped.

Hard money lenders understand that these issues are not always a reflection of your ability to pay back loans. 

That’s why hard money lenders don’t worry about your credit score, just your credit.

Do you have a history of late payments? Are you defaulting? That will negatively affect you with a hard money lender. 

If you are responsible with credit, but have a score banks won’t accept, a hard money lender will be a good option.

3. Using Hard Money Because It’s Flexible

Sometimes you need an outside-of-the-box lender.

  • Unique Properties – If you have a house or area that’s unique (maybe a dome house, an old manufacturer, etc.), hard money lenders will give you more options.
  • Rural Areas – Most local banks and large hard money lenders don’t lend outside of MSAs. Traditional lenders might not cover thirty miles outside of an urban area, but many small hard money lenders will.
  • Cross Liens – Hard money lenders have more flexibility putting a cross lien on another property. This is useful if you don’t have a lot of money to put down, but do have another property with a lot of equity.
  • Gap funding – Sometimes a mortgage doesn’t quite cover all the costs of your project. Hard money can fill in those gaps.
  • Lot splits – Splitting off a lot can be a headache with a traditional lender. A hard money lender is more flexible with the time it takes to get a survey and everything else prepared. This allows you to split off a lot, sell the house, and keep the lot.

4. Using Hard Money for BRRRRs

Hard money is crucial for successful BRRRRs.

With BRRRR (rental flips), you:

  • Buy undermarket valued properties
  • With a hard money loan
  • Then rate-and-term refinance into a longer-term loan.

If you want to get into BRRRR transactions (rental properties), you have to find a hard money lender or private lender who will loan you 75-80% of the after-repair value of the property you want to buy.

If you get a hard money loan to fund the purchase price and rehab up to 75-80% ARV, you can maximize your refinance. This saves you money, time, and interest.

5. Other Times to Use Hard Money

There are many other reasons real estate investors use hard money. Here are a few:

  • Banks limit you to 2-3 loans. If you’ve maxed out those lenders, hard money can help.
  • Hard money can work as a bridge loan. It covers the down payment of your next property until your other bank-funded property sells.
  • You can keep a project off your credit. Hard money typically doesn’t show up on your credit report.
  • Investment beginners might need help with their first couple projects started before banks will lend to them.
  • Complete a started project. If you end up with a property mid-flip, many banks won’t lend for it. But a hard money lender can easily provide a gap loan to finish the rehab.
  • Hard money has the flexibility to let you come in with other funding sources. (If you want to put repair costs on a credit card, want to use an OPM lender, etc.).

How to Use Hard Money for Real Estate

Want to learn more about real estate funding? Wondering if a hard money loan might be right for your investment? 

Email us your questions anytime at Mike@HardMoneyMike.com

Or join our weekly Leverage Up call here, every Thursday from 1:15 PM to 2:15 PM (MST).

Text: "ARV & Comps: How to profit on your real estate investments"

What Does ARV Mean in Real Estate Investing?

To profit in real estate investing, you’ll need to know: What does ARV mean?

Real Estate Investing: What Does ARV Mean?

ARV is the after repair value. It’s what the property will appraise for, or sell for, on the current market once the scope of work is completed.

You estimate a property’s ARV by looking at the prices of similar homes in the current market.

What Are Comps?

Comps (comparables) are those similar homes you look at. It’s important that your comps have the same value as your property.

For example, if your deal is for a 950 square-foot home, you’ll compare it to other 900 to 1,000 square-foot homes on the market, not a 2,000 square-foot one. Similarly, compare a 2-bedroom, 1-bath house to houses of the same specifications – not to 4-bedroom, 2-bath homes.

How To Get an Accurate ARV

For your ARV to be accurate, you need to stay true to your scope of work. If you only repaint and re-carpet a house that needed much more work, you won’t get top-of-the-market value when you try to sell or refinance.

On the other hand, if your scope of work is a full remodel, your comparables should be homes that are fully remodeled, so you don’t miss out on any profit.

The money you put into fixing up a house isn’t a direct indicator of how much the house will be worth. What the property looks like when it’s finished has nothing to do with how much it cost to get it there.

What Does ARV Mean for Profit in Real Estate Investing?

Estimated profit is what you expect to make on the transaction between:

  • buying the property
  • fixing it up
  • selling it again.

Additionally, equity is the difference between the amount you owe and what the property is worth. You build equity on your rentals by:

  • buying properties with a low purchase price and a high ARV
  • successfully refinancing after a flip
  • paying down the mortgage with rent income.

If you want to find the true profitability of a deal, then use your ARV and comparables:

ARV – (Purchase Price + Budget) = Profit Amount

Read the full article here.

Watch the video here:

https://youtu.be/4RErCDhSi44

Text: How your credit score impacts cash flow"

How Does Your Credit Score Impact Your Cash Flow?

Rates and cash flow depend on your credit score. Here’s just how much:

Let’s look at an example with real numbers to get a picture of just how seriously your can credit score impact cash flow on your real estate investments.

Comparing Interest Rates

Pretend you have a $300,000 loan. And you were able to get a 6% interest rate – a normal rate for today. Your monthly payment would be around $1,800.

But, for every 10 to 20 points your credit score lowers, your rate increases. This raises your monthly payments by $100 to $200.

So with a low score, you’d only be able to get a 9% rate on that $300,000 loan. You’d be giving $615 every month straight to the bank. That’s money other investors will be able to use to re-invest.

Chart showing your interest payment depending on your rate for a $300,000 loan

Interest Rates Over the Life of the Loan

This interest story gets worse when we consider the full life of the loan.

The person with a 6.5% interest rate pays a little under $1,200 per year in interest, or around $35,000 for the full 30-year loan.

The person with 9% pays over $7,300 yearly, and over $221,000 over the course of the loan!

Chart showing your yearly and 30-year interest payments depending on your rate for a $300,000 loan

We can take this example out further.

Let’s say we have a portfolio of 10 properties, not just one, each with $300,000 loans.

At 6.5%, you’ll spend almost $350,000 over 30 years between the interest of all the loans. At 9%, you’d pay $73,800 per year on interest alone for your portfolio. As a result, you’d shell out a grand total of $2.2 million in interest in 30 years.

Chart showing your total interest payments over the life of 10 $300,000 loans, depending on your rate.

Cash Flow & Credit Score Conclusion

As you can see, a low credit score is a major disadvantage. Properties that would cash flow for someone else, won’t for you. Your debt-to-income could disqualify you for DSCR loans. Your score itself can disqualify you for many other loans.

Look at the impact of your credit score on cash flow. Keep more money to do what you love and give less to the banks in the form of interest.

Above all other investment goals: raise your credit score.

If you need to work with a credit specialist to get everything in line, it’ll be worth your time. Do it ASAP – now is the time to get prepared as a real estate investor. Because in 2023, prices will come down, and you don’t want to miss those opportunities.

Read the full article here.

Watch the video here:

https://youtu.be/sa9iCDxJFnk

Text: "What's BRRRR in a down market?"

What Does BRRRR Mean In a Down Market?

Does BRRRR mean the same thing in a declining market and a rising one?

Let’s start with the basics. What does Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat mean? Your understanding of this real estate investment method will determine your success when inflation hits.

BRRRR comes down to two key factors.

1) Buying Undermarket Properties

Buying undermarket properties is the crux of BRRRR.

This important point has been confusing to people in the last few years. That’s because truly good undermarket properties have been hard to find.

We’ve been seeing people buy at 80-85% of a property’s ARV. In the near future, those values will come down.

Back in 2010, people were able to buy properties for 60-65% of the ARV. We’re hoping that’s where this next market will take real estate investors.

This method means buying undermarket properties. Inflation should make this part easier, with lower priced BRRRR properties coming back.

2) Using a Two-Loan Strategy

The other foundational concept in BRRRR is its two-step loan process.

The whole point of this method is to get into rentable properties with little to no money down. To do this, you need two loans – one to acquire it, and one to hold it long-term.

Once you own the property (using the first loan), you can refinance it using the appraised value (via the second loan).

If you can buy a property undermarket (with private money) and own it, you capture the equity of the house when you refinance it.

Instead of pulling more money from your pocket for your next deal, you can use the equity you create with one BRRRR to buy more real estate – even with inflation.

Learning More About What BRRRR Means

BRRRR means two things: buying undermarket real estate, and utilizing two loans to do it.

We’ve been doing this rental property strategy for over 15 years – before it even had the acronym to go with it! For more on BRRRR fundamentals, check out these YouTube videos, or reach out to us anytime at HardMoneyMike.com.

Read the full article here.

Watch the video here:

Text: "Don't Let Bad Credit Stop You!"

What Credit Score Do I Need to Invest in Real Estate? (And What If I Don’t Have It?)

What do you need to do to invest in real estate with a low credit score?

60% of the calls we gotten in 20+ years in real estate lending involve the question:

“What credit score do I need to invest?”

And unfortunately, there are a lot of beginner investors out there who need to work on their credit. But until they increase their credit score, how can they get money to start their real estate career?

Right now is a great opportunity to start. A good credit score is crucial to take advantage of the kind of market we haven’t seen for twelve years.

The credit score you need to invest in real estate depends on who you’re getting money from. Let’s take a look at some of your funding options with different credit scores.

Do Hard Money Lenders Check Credit?

First of all, a question for many beginner investors is: “Do hard money lenders check credit?”

Yes and no.

In the hard money lending world, there’s a big split in lenders’ approach to credit scores.

National Hard Money Lenders – Credit Scores to Invest in Real Estate

On one side, there’s the national lenders, the big hedge funds, the major institutions. For them, it’s all about credit and experience. 

You end up being a number to these bigger companies – a data point. So they focus on the numbers that represent your success. The most important of these numbers is your credit score.

The larger the institution, the smaller the box they need you to fit in. So if you’re looking for money and your credit is below 680, you probably won’t fit in the box of national hard money lenders.

Local Hard Money Lenders and Credit

On the other side, there’s smaller, local hard money companies. These local lenders won’t base their loans on your credit score.

Most local hard money lenders look at you and your deal. They’ll want to know:

to see whether you have a good chance of making money from the deal.

If you’re investing while your credit score is lower, gear yourself toward these local lenders. There are plenty of these hard money lenders around – hundreds in the Denver market alone!

What Do Hard Money Lenders Require?

Most local hard money lenders won’t credit check, but they will look at a few other things.

What do they look for? How do you know if you’re the type of person they want to lend money to?

What Hard Money Lenders Generally Require

Local hard money lenders look at a combination of information about you:

  • Your experience
  • Whether you’ve done flips or rental properties before
  • The success of your past investments
  • How many you’ve done in the past three to five years

And if you’re new to investing, lenders will want to see that you’re working with people – realtors, contractors, etc. – who do have good real estate investment experience.

Cash Requirements By Hard Money Lenders

Hard money lenders will also require some cash.

It might be 10-20% down. Or maybe your deal is so good they won’t require any money to be put into the property. Either way, most lenders will still want to see that you have a little cash accumulated.

This backup money is considered reserves. If an unexpected rehab cost comes up, your lender will want to be sure you could cover it.

Also, the lender will simply want to ensure that you can make your payments. They want to build a great relationship with their clients, which starts with choosing investors that will make the process smooth.

All small lenders want is to lend money, then get it back with interest. If you can prove you can make that process happen as simply as possible, any local lender would be happy to work with you.

Credit Score Requirements to Invest in Real Estate with Local Hard Money

Local hard money lenders might not require your credit score, but they’ll still check your credit.

Your credit report will give them an idea of your financial habits – who they’d be getting into a money relationship with. They’re mainly looking for a history of bankruptcy, foreclosure, or lack of payments.

Why don’t local hard money lenders require credit scores? Real estate investors are credit-dependent in a credit-driven industry. A lot of our clients use credit cards to cover the cost of flipping. These high card balances result in real estate investors tending to have lower credit scores.

How to Find Loans for Fix-and-Flips and BRRRRs

As an investor looking for money for a fix-and-flip, you might be getting squeezed out by rising credit score requirements. As the economy changes and lenders get tighter: Who do you reach out to? How do you get loans for fix and flips?

If your credit score is outside of the current credit score requirements for lenders, here are some tips on how to find loans for fix-and-flips.

Local Hard Money Lenders and OPM for Fix-and-Flip Loans

As we mentioned, local hard money lenders will be the most likely to get you real estate investment loans under current credit conditions.

But there’s another major way we recommend to fund your fix and flips, especially during this market: OPM.

Real, average people who want a better return on their money than they’d get with bonds or stocks will be willing to lend to you during this time. If you can show people you can secure their money, they’re likely to lend to you.

BRRRR with Low Credit Score to Invest in Real Estate

Typically, when you buy an undermarket rental, you use two loans: a hard money loan and a long-term refinance loan. If your credit score isn’t where it needs to be for banks, you’ll need to look into OPM for the longer term loan.

You could still get bank loans with a low credit score, but they’ll likely have higher down payments.

If a 720 score could get a loan that requires 20% down, a 640 score might only get you a loan if you can bring in 40%. OPM can cover that down payment cost, or any other gap in funding for a BRRRR or fix-and-flip loan.

Other Options Beyond Fix-and-Flips

With rising interest rates and lender requirements, it just might not be the right time for you to do fix-and-flips. What are some other options to focus your investment career on?

Owner carries and subject tos can be a great option in this upcoming market. These are ways to obtain properties without needing to qualify for a loan through a bank. The homeowner either lends you money to take over the property, or keeps the mortgage in their name while you make payments.

Subject tos and owner carries are important options to consider when your credit score to invest is low.

What Is Real Private Money?

We’ve mentioned it several times in this article, and now it’s time to really dig in. What is real OPM? How can you set up and use real private money?

OPM When You Don’t Have the Credit Score to Invest In Real Estate

OPM is a tried-and-true method to get money when you have a bad credit score. It’s fallen out of popularity a bit in the last few years because there had been a lot of money flooding in real estate. With money so easy to get from banks, many investors devalued the power of OPM.

We believe you should always have OPM lenders in your portfolio, but especially in a down market.

What Is Real OPM?

OPM lenders can be family, friends, or other people you may not even know personally. Real private money can come from anyone looking for a better return on a large chunk of money. As long as you take care of someone’s money, you can always find people who want a secured, asset-backed place for their cash.

Once you prove to be a competent investor, you can build strong OPM relationships. It can be as simple as calling up your lender, telling them about a deal, then getting the money exactly when you need it.

Now is a great time to start finding these people. Especially if you don’t have the right credit score to invest in real estate in more traditional ways.

Get The Credit Score You Need To Invest In Real Estate

If you got into investing recently, maybe you’re not quite sure what to do now that lenders have raised credit requirements. You can start by looking at:

  • small private lenders
  • OPM
  • alternative investment methods like subject tos and owner carries.

But your number one goal should always be to raise your credit score. Raising your credit score to invest in real estate will automatically open up options for you, even as things are tightening overall. And the faster, easier, and cheaper you can find the money, the more you can take advantage of the next market.

If you need help getting your credit where it needs to be, check out these videos.

Download this free credit checklist.

Or reach out with your credit or hard money questions at HardMoneyMike.com.

Happy Investing.

Text: "Real Estate Investing In a Declining Market"

Real Estate Investing In a Declining Market

Should you bother with real estate investing in a declining market? YES.

You keep hearing that the fed is raising rates, inflation is hitting, and money is tightening. But what does this really mean for real estate investors?

Availability In a Declining Market

As inflation goes up, there’s less money for everyone. Including real estate investors.

This might feel like whiplash from the last ten years. Until recently, there was plenty of money for everyone in the real estate world. Rates were lower, loan-to-values on loans were higher, and money flowed fairly freely.

But now funds are tightening up. This will mean two main things for investors:

  1. Lenders will require more money down
  2. They will have higher credit score range expectations for borrowers.

Now is the perfect time to prioritize your credit score. Improving your credit score by thirty percent will put you in a fantastic position moving into this next market.

Real Estate Purchase Opportunities in a Declining Market

Rates are going up, money’s tightening… but inventory is growing. Soon, the cost of homes will drop.

You want to buy right at that moment, as money is shifting down but properties are shifting up. Sooner or later, the market will shift back.

When money gets easy again and prices go up, you increase your cash flow and net worth because you bought in the declining market.

Inflationary times are not a negative for investors. As long as you’re prepared, now is the best time to invest in real estate. If you can get money, you’ll be one of the few people out there looking for deals. Five to ten years from now, you’ll be reaping the benefits in big ways.

Read the full article here.

Watch the video here:

Text: "Real Estate Lenders and Loans During Inflation"

Loans for Real Estate Investing (And How Inflation Changes Them)

Lenders to have on your team, loans to get for real estate investing, and what inflation has to do with it.

Who are the lenders for real estate investing? Here are the basics of each lender and how rising inflation and interest rates will affect your relationship with them as you invest.

In real estate investing, there are three key lenders.

1) Banks and Credit Unions for Real Estate Investing

National banks don’t usually have many options for real estate investors. But local banks and credit unions love real estate investors.

Even so, banks are the most conservative lenders. They’ll be especially tight with their money until they figure out the new normal with updated federal interest rates.

As a real estate investor, bank loans will be increasingly difficult to get. It’ll be more common for banks to lend 60-70% of the LTV with high credit score requirements.

In the last few months, we’ve been receiving four times as many calls as usual from investors who typically go through banks for all their money. Already, investors are getting turned away by banks.

2) Hard Money Lenders

There are two types of hard money lenders: national and local. Each type of lender will approach the change in the economy in a different way.

Much like banks, national hard money lenders will tighten up on their requirements and options. National lenders were known for offering up to 90-100% LTV. Now, they’ll only lend 80% and their credit score range requirements have gone up. The higher your credit score, the higher your leverage with national hard money lenders.

Local lenders won’t change nearly as much based on the economy. Smaller lenders make their income by loaning money, so they’ll never tighten too much. Local hard money lenders don’t typically have any credit score requirements.

Get to know the hard money lenders in your area. They’re a valuable asset to have in your portfolio of lenders, especially now, and especially if your credit score is outside of the range of traditional lenders.

3) Real OPM Loans for Real Estate

OPM is Other People’s Money – from family, friends, neighbors, or other people in a position to lend. You might think that normal people wouldn’t want to loan you their money at a time like this. But you would be wrong.

People with money in the bank are making around a 1% return. So getting a 5%, secured return from you is way more appealing. OPM lenders won’t care about credit – as long as you secure their money and ensure them a return.

All three of these lending sources will be important. You’ll need a mix of all of them. Putting them together in the right way will accelerate your real estate career.

Read the full article here.

Watch the video here:

Text: "BRRRR Method for Beginners"

The BRRRR Method for Beginners: Setting Up for Success

There are two ways beginners can set themselves up for success using the BRRRR method: focusing on the numbers and putting together a team.

BRRRR Numbers for Beginners

The BRRRR method is all about numbers. Beginners sometimes fail because they make a deal emotional and bid the property up. When buying properties, you have to stick to the math.

Your North Star for BRRRR investments is the 75% rule – the best properties only cost 75% of the after repair value.

The reason for the 75% rule is because that’s the number banks will rate-and-term refinance a conventional loan for. When you can do this type of refinance, you can finish up the deal without putting any of your own money in.

It’s smart to shop around for banks for your refinance loan, though. Some banks may allow you to buy up to 85% of the ARV, under certain conditions.

Setting up a Team for the BRRRR Method

So you need good, low-priced properties. And the best way to find them is to build a good team. Especially as a beginner, you’ll need to know several of these kinds of people:

Realtors and Wholesalers

Knowing wholesalers and realtors can help you locate better properties and close with better deals.

Lenders

You’ll need private lenders for bridge loans and another lender for the long-term refinanced loan. Having relationships with lenders ahead of time speeds up a closing and can earn you a lower price.

Contractors

Ideally, from closing to refinance, BRRRRs are completed in 90 days. This means you’ll need contractors at-the-ready who can work efficiently and reliably to fix up your properties.

Property Managers

If you want your BRRRRs to be passive after the refinance, find a good property manager. A common beginner’s mistake is to take the first tenant who shows an interest – without any background checks or other renting requirements.

A good property manager can both find you better tenants and manage them for you. Many investors overlook this member of their team, but it can truly make or break your BRRRR experience.

Knowing several people from each of these categories gives you options to customize for each of your deals. Putting together a good and broad team will make the BRRRR method much easier and smoother — especially for a beginner.

Read the full article here.

Watch the video here: