Personal Credit + Business Credit Stacking vs. Hard Money for Fix & Flips—Which is Be

[Virgil Moore]

Experienced flippers know that access to capital can make or break a deal. Two common strategies for funding flips are hard money loans and business credit card stacking (using your personal credit to PG high-limit business credit cards). Both have their place, but they work very differently—and the consequences of mismanaging them aren’t the same.

Hard Money: Fast Cash, High Cost

Hard money loans are the go-to for many investors because they’re asset-based. If the deal makes sense, you can usually get funded, even with less-than-perfect credit. But the costs are brutal—double-digit interest rates, points at closing, and short repayment terms mean you have to flip fast.

If you can’t pay back a hard money loan, the lender doesn’t hesitate—they take the property. If the numbers don’t work, you could lose the deal and your profits (or worse, come out of pocket to cover losses).

Business Credit Stacking: 0% Interest, No Collateral

Stacking business credit cards lets you fund flips without hard money rates. With a strong personal credit profile, you can PG multiple business cards, access $50K-$150K+ in revolving credit, and often get 0% intro APR for 6-18 months. This means no interest payments cutting into your profits and flexibility in how you deploy the funds.

If you can’t pay back business credit, the lender doesn’t take your property—but your credit profile takes a hit. Missed payments hurt your score, and maxing out cards can make it harder to get new funding. However, with proper strategy (balance transfers, structured paydowns, etc.), you have options before it ever gets to that point.

So, Which is Better?

If speed and high leverage are your priorities, hard money can still make sense—especially if you’re light on liquidity. But if you want to keep more of your profits, avoid hard money headaches, and control your financing costs, business credit stacking is a powerful alternative.

Smart investors leverage both—using 0% business credit for acquisition or rehab and hard money only when absolutely necessary. What’s your go-to strategy for funding flips? Drop your thoughts below!

[Mira Atanasova]

We have taken the second approach for two of our deals and I have no regrets, even though we used our personal CC. We have utilized 0% balance transfer offers for minimum of 12 months for an average cost of 4% in an 8% mortgage interest rate environment. If we would go the hard money route, we would have paid that to just close the loan in origination fees and points and then pay 12% annual interest on top of that. I would go the second route any time the deal allows it.