Costs of hard money with conventional refinance vs. conventional with conventional refinance

[Derek Daun]

I'm looking for property number three for rehab and hold. My original plan was to use a conventional mortgage for purchase, do improvments, then refinance when I can. I've recently started thinking about going the private/hard money route. The main appeal is that it would allow me to make cash offers, which could give me a big leg up in the current environment. Additionally, it should be easier to get the bank refinance since I wouldn't have a mortgage on it.

One thing that concerns me is the cost of hard money vs the costs of a conventional mortgage. Any other thoughts here? Is hard money going to be more expensive? I figure about 5 months of paying interest on the hard money.

Is there any reason to stick with conventional if I can afford it, other than losing out on the cash offer ability?