dohardmoney review

[Matt Motil]

This company is listed on this website as a hard money lender and they have very unfavorable reviews here at BP from members. After conducting a few searches on my own I figured I'd give them a try to see what they were all about so I could then provide a review for the rest of us here at BP. 

I am very leery of the various service lenders or providers out there that basically make a quick $200-$2000 off of newbie investors looking for ways to get started if they have less than perfect credit and little money to play with. There are a ton of them and as the popularity of the flipping shows have grown, the number of these charlatans has boomed. That being said, I filled out my basic info and proceeded with an open mind. Worst case it actually is a legit company and I have another tool in my tool belt to do deals. 

I received a phone call within about 30 minutes of filling out my information. It was an eager lad that asked me a few basic questions about my investing experience and "how many flips would I like to be doing in the next 6 months". I threw out some ridiculously high number and he told me I'd be a perfect candidate for their 100% financing program. I told him I didn't need 100% financing and wasn't interested in joining any kind of VIP program to gain access to that kind of funding, anything less than 100% would be fine too. He ensured me that based on my experience as an investor they were confident in my credibility to have them provide me 100% financing and asked if I could schedule an appointment with one of their senior members. I scheduled an appointment for the next day at lunch. 

The following day the senior member called right on time and proceeded to rehash the details of what had been discussed by the junior member. I told him I had found them from BiggerPockets, to which he enthusiastically told me that they have a large number of working partners that come to them from BP. At that point he explained that they require a $2500 deposit to access their services. I explained to him that I wasn't interested in any kind of financing that required me to pay them up front without delivering anything to me. I would be happy to partner for financing where I ultimately paid points equal to that amount if I borrowed enough and have that rolled into the financing package, but it would not be paid up front. He got very frustrated with me and attempted to get off the phone. 

I explained to him my skepticism and asked him if the $2500 up front was a deal-breaker. He explained it was. I told him I didn't need 100% financing and asked him what other programs they have available. He avoided that question and told me that with my experience this was the best program for me. I relayed some of the posts found through searches here at BP where people explained that they would pay $600 per inspection per house to repeatedly have DHM tell them that there was a reason they would not fund the property. I told him to look at it from my perspective and how it seemed they made money on $2500 deposits and $600 inspections that magically never funded. He told me to search BP and I'd see how many happy customers there were that had been successful using their services. 

I haven't been able to find any of those posts. 

I asked him to provide me 2-3 people I could contact here at BP that would be able to tell me about their experience and their success using the DHM program. He told me he couldn't give that to me. I asked him why, and he explained that it would take him a long time to find that information and he needs to be closing deals with people that are serious about doing deals. I told him I couldn't find anyone at BP talking good about their company. He told me that was because they are too busy doing deals and not sitting online chatting about how they are doing their deals. 

Really? 

I explained to him that this isn't how BP works, and if I was successful using a certain company or lender I would be on BP telling everyone about it and recommending it to the moon and back. I explained to him that the lack of this information on the site made me cautious to proceed, especially when he couldn't give me anyone I could contact. He told me he could give me plenty of people that have been successful, and I told him I'd be happy to provide him with a list of people that would vouch for how amazing I am at anything I asked them to vouch for me on. Anyone can buy testimonials or make them up themselves. I wanted real BP members that would tell it like it is. 

Now, I'm not saying their program isn't legit. You could pay the $2500 and the $600 for an inspection and they might actually fund it and do everything that their website tells you they will do. I'm just relaying my conversations with them and allow you to make your own decisions based on my experience. 

Hope it helps. If not, thanks for reading. 

[Matt Schaugaard]

Hi Matt, (great name by the way) I’m on the Executive Team at DoHardMoney and wanted to take a minute to address your experience and your assessment of DoHardMoney.

We’ve been in business for over 10 years successfully helping Real Estate Investors fix and flip properties, specifically with providing funding that a lot of our customers were unable to get anywhere else. I understand that stating our legitimacy will do very little to sway your perception.

Ultimately my intention of responding is to hopefully clarify any misunderstandings or assumptions that were made during the prequalification process that you went through.

We are a legitimate company that provides great resources most importantly funding for fix and flip properties. Hopefully a little perspective on the history of DoHardMoney and what our mission is might lend some clarity.

Ryan Wright the owner of DoHardMoney started the company after several years as a successful Real Estate Investor with a large portfolio of rental properties and several successful fix and flips. Providing funding was a natural next step in investing for him which led to the creation of DoHardMoney. In addition to this he recruited a handful of investors with available capital who saw the value in putting their money to work through real estate investing, specifically for funding fix and flip investment properties.

From the perspective of the investors whose funds we use to finance properties one of the primary drivers is to have as much of their capital out working for them as possible. That being said, we are aggressively working to identify serious investors that will put that money to work.

To your point there are charlatans out there that are taking advantage of individuals which certainly adds to the difficulty of what we’re trying to accomplish with serious investors that are looking for a solution that will allow them to get into real estate investing when they have bad credit and very little money. We understand that we might not be a fit for everyone but for the new investor who has bad credit, lacks experience and doesn’t have 10-20% down that will be the minimum required by almost every other Hard Money Lender out there we’re a great option.

Our 100% Financing Program really is the ideal solution for most customers that we work with. We work with individuals to help them structure their business including their financial resources in a way that gives them the greatest opportunity to get funding on a good deal and to get 100% financing on a great deal. For most people they should be getting all of their tools and resources in place before they get a property under contract. There are a series of common mistakes new investors tend to make and we are very good at helping our customers avoid those pitfalls. This results in motivated borrowers achieving their first profitable deal much earlier in their career than if they would have gone it alone.

We do have BiggerPockets customers that we have funded and they are found throughout the site. Just to name a few:

Casey Carroll – In another discussion you'll find Casey's comments related to the successful deals he's done with us. Here's what he had to say in reference to the Evaluation costs, "The cash up front is to have two independent evaluators (usually realtors) to go out and run a CMA based on an excepted ARV. This costs money to do. I've done deals with these guys before and they are conservative with their estimates because if you aren't, then you will surely lose money. I've done 4 rehabs, 2 with them, 2 with other lenders, and the two I did with them actually made money while the two I've done with other HML's lost money. If your deal passes their sniff test, you WILL be profitable... and they want to ensure that they're not putting you or them in a bad position."

Cassandra Johnson - https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/134810-dohardmoneycom-problem

Ben Otwell – "I'm writing this post in respect to dohardmoney I was just funded yesterday and have had demolition started today. In my experience with dohardmoney I was treated with respect and the customer service was excellent. Brittany and Jon were my loan servicers and kept me up to date on all aspects of the process. The deal I have is a great one and I was very confident in my research as far as ARV and construction costs. The evaluation process went well except for one rouge agent who used comps from a whole different area and was comparing my property to houses half the size. I was given a chance to dispute the agents findings show actual recent sold and closed comps and the evaluation was approved. I brought $844 to close and started construction. I would definitely repeat the process and will as soon as the next deal is brought to me.

Thanks you Brittany and Jon for all your hard work and promptness on this deal.”

Ben and Cassandra were funded a couple weeks ago. It’s true that we’re not actively on BiggerPockets identifying individuals that are a part of this community and receiving funding from us. We recognize we can do better about our level of activity on BiggerPockets. It would clearly help the entire community if we shared more details about the successes our customers are having as we fund their deals.

When a customer comes to us with a property already under contract we send the customer directly to our Evaluation Coordinator who reviews the deal with the customer and confirms there is strong profit potential. If the deal fits into the underwriting parameters that we've established and everything lines up then we order the property evaluation. An evaluation includes sending 2-3 independent evaluators to the property in order to establish an accurate After Repair Value (ARV). It's true that there are some customers who are on BiggerPockets that had the values come back lower than what they were expecting and as a result didn't receive funding. We work hard to help new investors do as much due diligence as possible prior to ordering the Evaluation. This includes inviting them to fill out a property value analysis worksheet that helps them understand what the most likely ARV is on the property. That way their confidence is much higher once they go ahead with the $650 and we start the evaluation process. This in large part is why we encourage customers to enroll in our system before they go out and get a property under contract. We want to help them protect their investment so they can only commit funds when their likelihood of a strong ROI is as high as possible.

If you go to our website under “education” you can view Case Studies of a handful of clients and their experience with us. While I understand that from your perspective it’s a lot more exciting to think that these are paid actors and fake testimonials, the reality is that they are real people and they are describing real experiences with DoHardMoney.

I would certainly acknowledge that we would benefit from encouraging more of our customers to jump onto BiggerPockets and share their experiences. Expect to see more of that.

I wish you all of the best Matt; I’d love to have a chance to talk to you in more detail including giving you a run down on some of the tools and resources that we make available to our clients. I think you’ll find that what we offer is legitimate and valuable.