Any banks that work with rehabbers?

[David Weis]

Down here in the Tampa Bay area, inventory is very low (1.6 months). House prices have risen to the point that even crap homes are going for top dollar. No one is negotiable. Houses are being listed on the MLS and only above asking price offers are being considered. So we need to lower our costs.

Right now, I use a combo of hard money and private money. Hard money gets paid 4 points at closing and 1% per money. Whatever the hard money does not cover (closing costs, down payment, etc.) gets taken care of by private money at a straight 10%.

I would love to find a bank willing to work with a rehabber like myself. I'm just looking for a line of credit at say $50K - $100K. I have a high FICO score, no bankruptcies or repos and a steady income. My P&L for taxes from the business shows a loss, but that's normal in my business according to my CPA. The business is 4 years old so obviously we are doing something right. We do have collateral in the houses we hold before resale. Right now we have about $1.5M in houses and they have less than $1M in liens (from the HML). But they are going on the market soon.

Yet rehabbers are toxic to banks. I don't understand why if I have been playing by the rules (paying off my loans) I get punished for other rehabbers. And yet someone wanting to start a poodle grooming business is welcomed with open arms by banks.