Margin loan vs hard money

[Vivian Long]

I’m wondering which is better to improve my buying power? Margin loan vs hard money? I need around $150k to be competitive in the bidding wars and wondering whether I should draw a margin loan from my securities or to get some hard money for it. Obviously with how the stocks have been, it’s quite easy to get a margin loan, but it won’t be converted to cash until 30 days the loan hits my account. And I have to pay the interest for the first 30 days. I don’t have a list of hard money lenders that I can tap into yet... it takes time and with the up front payment, I’m not sure whether this is a cheaper option. What do you all think? Thanks!!

[Haydn Zeis]

Vivian, if you have the ability to use a margin loan, I'd probably go that route because the interest rate should be much lower than a hard money loan.  A 30 day close shouldn't be unreasonable, you'll still need to do due diligence on properties and arrange closing with title.  

Some of our investors invest in our real estate fund with margin loans because they're getting such good interest rates right now.