Investing in hard money loans can provide good returns for a real estate investor, and there are a variety of ways to tap into the hard money lending arena. Hard money lenders like New Silver offer Funds which allows investors to do just this.
New Silver’s Income Fund allows investors to earn 14-17% total target returns and receive quarterly distributions from hard money lending.
Other methods for investing in hard money loans include real estate crowdfunding, becoming a hard money lender, and online peer-to-peer hard money lending.
Investing in hard money loans can be an extremely lucrative way to earn passive income. As an investor, you essentially provide financing for real estate investors and developers to fund their projects. In return, you can earn high interest rates and origination fees.
But how exactly do you get started investing in hard money loans? In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know, including:
What Are Hard Money Loans?
Hard money loans are a type of short-term financing provided by private lenders rather than banks or traditional lending institutions, They are typically used by real estate investors and developers who need funding quickly to purchase or renovate investment properties
The loans are secured by the property itself, rather than the borrower’s credit score or financial history. This allows real estate investors who may not qualify for traditional bank financing to access the capital they need
Hard money loans are usually structured as bridge loans – meaning they bridge the gap between the purchase and sale or completion of a project. They have much shorter repayment terms than conventional mortgages, often 6-18 months.
Key Benefits of Hard Money Lending
As an investor, hard money lending offers several advantages:
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Higher returns – Interest rates on hard money loans typically range from 10-15%, significantly higher than other fixed-income investments like bonds or CDs.
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Shorter terms – The short duration of most hard money loans means your capital is working hard for you but can be reinvested more quickly.
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Security – Hard money loans are secured by the underlying real estate asset, providing more protection than unsecured investments.
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Diversification – Real estate investments don’t always follow the stock market, allowing you to diversify.
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Passive income – Hard money lending generates mostly passive income apart from occasionally reviewing deals.
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Flexible investment amounts – You can invest as little as a few thousand dollars in a loan up to hundreds of thousands.
How to Get Started in Hard Money Lending
If you’re ready to get started investing in hard money loans, follow these steps:
1. Determine Your Investment Goals
First, clarify your specific goals for hard money lending. Important factors to consider include:
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Amount to invest – How much capital do you have available to deploy? Many lenders require $50K – $100K minimum.
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Returns target – What annual return percentage do you hope to achieve? Set realistic expectations based on market rates.
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Risk tolerance – Hard money loans carry more risk than conventional fixed-income products. Make sure you’re comfortable with the risk level.
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Passive or active involvement – Do you want to be heavily involved evaluating deals or prefer a more passive role?
2. Choose a Lending Structure
There are several ways to structure hard money lending deals:
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Lend directly – You source borrowers, evaluate deals, and manage payments yourself. More work but you control everything.
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Lend through a company – Also known as “partner with a company”. You fund loans originated by an established hard money lending company for more passive involvement.
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Join/form a lending group – Pool capital with a group of other investors to fund larger loans together and share risk.
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Online lending platforms – Invest through an online platform that sources hard money loan opportunities. Easy but offers less customization of deals.
Each model has tradeoffs to consider between effort, risk, customization, and ease of diversification.
3. Fund Your Lending Capital
You have several options when funding your lending capital:
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Cash savings – The simplest source is accumulated savings from employment income, business profits, or investments.
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Home equity line of credit (HELOC) – Many lenders use HELOCs secured by their primary residence to access capital at lower rates.
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401(k) or IRA funds – It is possible to use retirement accounts to fund loans but comes with strict regulations.
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Private loan – You can also borrow capital from private lenders yourself at competitive rates to relend at higher hard money rates.
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Business cash reserves – Some businesses invest excess reserves to generate higher returns through hard money lending.
Each funding method has its own pros, cons, costs, and risks to weigh.
4. Find Borrowers or Deals
If you’re lending directly, you’ll need to source real estate investors and developers in need of financing. Great ways to find deals include:
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Networking events – Attend local real estate networking meetups to connect with active investors in your area.
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Online forums – Many real estate investing forums like BiggerPockets have sections dedicated to connecting borrowers and lenders.
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Direct outreach – Identify active fix-and-flip investors in your market and contact them directly about financing.
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Real estate agents – Agents often know investors looking for hard money loans to fund deals.
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Online listings – Websites like LendingHome list investment properties seeking hard money loans.
5. Underwrite and Evaluate Deals
For each potential deal, you’ll need to assess:
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Business plan – Review the investor’s rehab plan, budget, timeline, and exit strategy. Do projections seem reasonable?
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Track record – Look at the experience and past projects completed by the investor or developer. More experience lowers risk.
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Property valuation – Confirm independent appraised after-repair value (ARV) and projected loan-to-value ratio.
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Loan terms – Determine appropriate interest rate, duration, fees, etc. based on risk factors.
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Exit strategy – Verify a clear path to repaying the loan at maturity, such as selling or refinancing.
Conservative underwriting is crucial to safe hard money lending. Decline any deals that seem overly risky.
6. Close and Fund Approved Loans
For loans you approve, complete final legal paperwork and fund the loan by wiring the proceeds. Engage an experienced real estate attorney to review any loan agreements.
Ensure the loan is properly secured through a recorded mortgage or deed of trust. Order title insurance to protect against errors in title ownership.
7. Get Repaid and Reinvest
During the loan period, monitor the project’s progress and the borrower’s ability to make interest payments on schedule. This helps limit defaults.
Upon maturity, the loan should be repaid quickly through sale or refinance so you can redeploy the capital into new lending opportunities.
Rinse and repeat the entire process to build a diversified portfolio of hard money loans driving predictable returns.
Tips for Success in Hard Money Lending
Follow these tips to maximize success and minimize growing pains as a new hard money lender:
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Start small with just a few loans to test your processes before ramping up.
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Stick to short 6-12 month terms at first to limit risk.
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Focus on loans under $100K until you gain experience evaluating deals.
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Use checklists to standardize your underwriting process and reduce mistakes.
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Require borrowers to pay for third-party valuations and title insurance.
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Work with an experienced real estate attorney to review loan documents.
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Diversify across multiple loans and borrowers to minimize risk.
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Specialize in a geography and property type you understand well.
Is Hard Money Lending Right for You?
Hard money lending can be an attractive income stream for investors who enjoy real estate and want to earn higher yields. But it also comes with higher risk and work involved with underwriting and managing loans.
Carefully consider your personal risk appetite, return goals, capital, and willingness to research deals. Hard money lending offers great rewards but requires due diligence.
If you take the time to learn the ropes and start small, providing hard money loans can become an integral part of a balanced investment portfolio.
What Are Hard Money Loans Typically Used For?
Hard money loans are typically used by a borrowers, such as a real estate investor, and other cases where fast, short-term financing is required. A hard money loan is provided by a hard money lender, which is essentially a private lender that isn’t bound by the same regulations as traditional lenders.
Hard money loans are usually secured by the property itself, which works well for a real estate investor that is looking for loans that are not based heavily on their financial history, but rather on the deal at hand.
Based on the nature of a hard money loan, borrowers would typically use these loans for the following purposes:
Real estate investment: Real estate investors often use hard money loans for fix and flip projects, to fund both the property purchase and the renovations. Hard money loans offer real estate investors the chance to get fast funding and beat the competition, with a loan based on the fix and flip deal itself. Hard money loans also provide interest-only payment options for the initial period of the loan, which allows a real estate investor to get funding from hard money lenders and then renovate the property and repay the loan, once the property has been sold again for a profit.
Real estate development: Real estate developers and residential builders often use hard money loans from hard money lenders to fund the acquisition of land and pursue development projects. A hard money loan can be used for the purchase of the land, the construction of the buildings or to convert existing structures into something else. A hard money loan provides real estate developers with quick funding for these projects, which are often time sensitive.
Bridge financing: Another common use case for hard money loans is for those who need bridge financing when they are making a property purchase and require immediate funds while waiting for longer-term financing. The idea is to bridge the gap that is created, while borrowers wait for their traditional financing. The speed at which a hard money loan can be issued by hard money lenders is attractive for this purpose.
Borrowers with credit issues: Due to the fact that hard money lenders are not bound by the same rules and regulations as traditional lenders, hard money lenders are a popular choice for borrowers who cannot get a traditional loan. Hard money lenders will typically place less importance on the borrower’s personal financial situation, and a hard money loan will be based on the purpose for which it is being taken (usually real estate deals). This works well for borrowers who don’t have a stellar financial history, or who need more flexible hard money loan terms.
Can You Actually Invest In Hard Money Loans?
Yes, it is definitely possible for individuals to invest in hard money loans provided by hard money lenders. Investing in hard money loans can provide an opportunity for individuals to earn a return on their investment by lending money to borrowers who need short-term financing, often via hard money lenders.
How does it work?
An investor would start by finding a reputable hard money lender that aligns with their investment goals. From there, they would decide how much they want to invest and then check the minimum investment requirements of the hard money lender. Each lender will offer different risks and returns, which need to be evaluated carefully. These include, the Loan-To-Value ratio, borrower’s creditworthiness, property type, and location.
Investors would use this to determine which type of hard money loan to fund, and then transfer the funds for the selected loans to the lender or platform. Investors will then earn interest on the investment they have made, as the borrowers make payments towards the loan. The loan terms and interest will vary depending on the lender.
Investors should conduct thorough due diligence, diversify their investments, and carefully assess the risks involved before investing in hard money loans. Each hard money loan carries a certain amount of risk, and investors should bear in mind that this investment is at the mercy of borrowers and property values, to a large extent.
How To Get A Hard Money Loan In 2024
What is a hard money lender?
Hard money lenders are generally private investors or companies that deal specifically with this type of lending. Hard money lenders aren’t subject to the same regulations as traditional, conforming loan lenders.
Are hard money loans a good option for real estate investors?
While this type of loan has advantages over traditional financing, it does have potential downsides. A certain capital buffer is still required. Hard money loans, sometimes referred to as bridge loans, are short-term lending instruments that real estate investors can use to finance an investment project.
How do I get a hard money loan?
The process of obtaining a hard money loan typically involves a few key steps. First, the borrower approaches a hard money lender with a prospective property. The lender evaluates the property’s value and the project’s potential. Unlike traditional lending, the focus here is on the asset, not the borrower’s credit score or income.
Can you invest as a hard money lender?
There are plenty of ways that you can invest as a hard money lender, private lender, or even what we call a gap financer. Let’s take a look: This is just you and a fix & flipper, where you lend them the whole amount for the deal. If it’s a $200,000 deal, you’re giving them the whole thing.