Refinancing Woes for low cost properties

[Alberto Leonard]

I've listened to several podcasts, Biggerpockets and others concerning the BRRRR method. It's straightforward as long as your buy right. You can then rehab, rent, etc... What no one seems to shed a light on is how difficult it is to find refinancing for loan amounts under 100K. It seems many lenders pass on you or if you are lucky offer an extremely high interest rate no matter how financially sound you are on paper. My 1st rental was purchased with a conventional 30yr loan, not too much of an issue there, however I utilized a hard money lender for the purchase/rehab for my 2nd investment and it seems many lenders want nothing to do with you. Perhaps I missed it in one of the podcasts but nothing has come across expressing this type of issue. Its obvious now that the best play would have been to pay cash for the property, rehab then refinance or HELOC but its too late now.. Still on the hunt for a lender that can make it work or would even consider it. Luckily I have some time since I started the process early. Has or is anyone experiencing the same issue?

[Alex Bekeza]

@Alberto Leonard There are commercial products out there that will go down to $75,000 (75% cash out on a 30 year fixed) as long as the property appraises for $100k + but the market for properties valued below $100k is much, much tighter. I invest in Saint Louis Missouri so I have a handful of these in the $75k-$90k loan amount range based on the values in South City. Part of my underwriting process is always making sure I can force an ARV above $100k simply for this reason.