Rehab with no money down.

[Louis Bruneau]

I need to find a new place to move to because my landlord wants to raise the price for the winter season and get more money, I live in Palm Beach Gardens FL, so I was hoping to find a fixer and move in and do most of the work myself.

I took some real estate investing courses years ago just before the housing craze (without any success) and now that things are back to normal I'm trying to get back in to the game... But the rules have changed.

I thought I could just finance the whole deal with hard money but I've heard those guys have disappeared and now the new hard money guys want some deposits and good credit... They're like a normal bank, that's not hard money!

Do the old days of rehabbing with no money down still exist?

Do you think it's possible for me to move in a house at 65% ARV, take my time to fix it and sale it retail 6 to 12 months down the road? I do have a full-time job and I don't mind paying the 10% interest fees, it's just like rent to me. I just need a place to live.

Also the reason I'm looking for fixers is because my credit is really bad and I'm self-employed with uneven paychecks so it would be very hard for me to qualify for a regular bank loan.

So, am I dreaming or is it possible?

Thank you for taking the time to read my post,
Louis

[Jon Holdman]

This is probably not possible.

Most HMLs want you to have some skin in the game. if you don't, its way too easy for you to just walk away if things go bad.

HMLs aren't likely to do the deal at all if you're occupying the place. The loan is a business deal, not a "home" loan. If you're living there, you can piddle around forever making the fixes.

If you do get an HML who will do this, you need an exit strategy. You say your credit is bad and you are self employed. How do you pay off the HML? Hard money is typically only six months or a year.

Hard money rates are more like 15%, not 10%.

The HML is not going to give you the rehab cash up front. You'll need to do the work, get in inspected by the HML and then get reimbursed for what you've done.

You're mixing up a place to live with a fix and flip. If you want to do fix and flips, and have some cash and experience to do it, great. But living in the property while fixing it up isn't a very good option.