Down Payment Based on Appraisal Vs Purchase

Down Payment Based on Appraisal Vs Purchase

Member since 2020 · 15 posts · 4 votes

I am looking at a property that looks good and the math works, but it's a little more expensive than the last few properties I've looked at, and  although I have enough available for a 20% down payment, I'm hesitant to tie up most of my liquid cash into one deal, especially if the market might be getting soft soon and there might be good opportunities on the horizon. Another relevant piece of information is that the purchase price that I would be offering would be 80-85% of what I believe it will appraise for.

I know conventional loans, or anything that will have government backing or be sold on the secondary market, will almost certainly require a 20% down payment for an investment property. I also know that there are hard money lenders that have their own criteria and may require less down, but does anyone know of any options or lenders, that will give a decent interest rate with a down payment based on 20% equity instead of 20% of the purchase price? For example, in the case of this house, if the purchase price is 85% of the appraised value, does anyone know of a specific lender (that doesn't charge hard money rates) that would allow me to put in 5% of the appraised value to get to the 80% equity requirement, instead of requiring 20% down?

If not, the other option would be to purchase it and refinance it based on the higher appraised value after it's seasoned, but I wanted to save the time, effort, and closing costs of the refinance if possible.

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  • Specialist · Delran, NJ · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 951 votes
    6y

    I personally have never heard of any lender hard money or otherwise accepting a down payment based on anything other than purchase price. Are you trying to get a long-term loan or a short term loan? 

  • Member since 2020 · 15 posts · 4 votes
    6y

    Thanks. My preference is a long term loan. My thought is that if the price to appraised value is what I expect, I can just refinance a few months down the road and get some cash back out. I just thought it was worth posing the question in case their was a lender or loan I wasn’t aware of with different standards.

    Thanks again!

  • Rental Property Investor · Hendersonville, NC · Member since 2016 · 446 posts · 412 votes
    6y

    Even asset based lenders have a seasoning period in my experience.  They want to ensure you have some "skin in the game".  Seller financing is one way.

  • Member since 2021 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    5y

    Aaron - did you ever find a solution? I am trying to track down something similar, capture the difference between sale price and appraised value to use towards downpayment. 

  • Member since 2020 · 15 posts · 4 votes
    5y

    @Justin Travis Kearnan Not exactly. I didn't purchase that property, but ended up getting another one instead. On that property, I purchased with a private money lender, and found a portfolio lender to refinance to me without a seasoning period, but was told that they only did that because I had a good personal financial situation and they were confident that I could cover the mortgage, if necessary. The refinance was about two months after the purchase, and I was able to BRRRR it.

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