Hard Money Lending

[Bradley Adams]

I am looking to do my first flip. A little background. I have a friend who's Grandpa passed away. His Grandma will be selling their home. It's in a very desirable area and needs some work. My Friend knows that I am trying to begin my REI career and he said that I should look into it. His Grandma is planning on putting the house on the market but I was hoping to be able to go in to see it with my real estate agent and contractor to figure out what my max offer would be, and hopefully put in an offer before it goes to market. Here is where the hard money lending comes in. I am guessing that the house will sell for about 1.2 M. I am in the process of getting a HELOC which should be about $400 K. I would need to finance the rest most likely through a hard money lender. What is the process here? Would I put in a finance contingency for 5 days or so while I try to get a loan or can I go to the HML with the details on ARV and repair costs before I have the house under contract? Thanks in advance for your help!!

[David Faulkner]

Another creative option to consider may be to do a JV with Grandma whereby she supplies the property and you supply the material and labor and agree on a reasonable split of the profits upon the sale. You may make less money this way, but you could likely avoid hard money all together and substantially decrease your risk. Granny likely gets a bigger payday but shares some of the risk. Or Granny could partner on the debt side instead of equity and owner finance. A few options to consider and perhaps propose ... you will need a lawyer to review, advise, and draft agreements if you choose these routes to make sure it gets executed properly. Good luck!