Multi-Family Lending: Ins and Outs of Hard Money Loans

One of the ideal scenarios for hard money loans is when you need a loan on short notice to use for a multi-family lending investment. Multi-family real estate assets are structures that are comprised of 4-5+ separate family residences. A poll conducted by the National Multifamily Housing Council indicated that well over 60% of all rental properties are categorized as multi-family buildings, whereas only a third of them are single-family residences.

The appeal of multi-family properties from an investment perspective is that they present the ideal opportunity to generate a passive income stream that far outstrips expenses for the owner’s mortgage payments and maintenance costs. This enables landlords to realize a profit with a minimal amount of effort expended. The comparatively steep upfront cost of acquiring a multi-family residence may be daunting—especially for new investors—but the price per-unit is undeniably lower than it would be if you were to buy an equal number of single-family properties.

Multi-family investing properties collectively generate a consistent and healthy cash flow on a monthly basis, even if there are a few vacancies along the way or delinquent tenants. To illustrate, consider that a ten-unit property would only have a ten percent unoccupied rate if one of the tenants moves out. Alternatively, if a tenant moved out of a single-family residence, then it would obviously be fully unoccupied and generate no income. When tenants vacate a multi-family residence, it offers landlords the opportunity to repair and renovate the temporarily empty unit if such upgrades are needed. It also affords the owner time to select reliable tenants, so they’re not forced to accept the first application due to financial concerns.

Investors looking to develop a diverse and extensive real estate investment portfolio comprised mainly of rental properties can do so relatively fast by acquiring multi-family residences. As opposed to buying numerous individual single-family residences, an investor can purchase a single multi-family property and generate an equitable amount of passive income with a fraction of the administrative and logistical hassle. This is a much more efficient and streamlined approach as you do not have to coordinate between multiple different sellers or obtain a host of different loans since you are buying just one single property.

Another potential advantage of multi-family residences is that you have the option of hiring a property manager, who, in exchange for a minimal monthly rate, will manage the day-to-day details of maintaining the property, including collecting rental payments, screening potential renters, conducting repairs and enforcing eviction proceedings if necessary—all of which frees up your calendar to focus on making additional investment moves and eliminates a substantial amount of the stress that is typically associated with owning rental properties.

The main advantage of using a hard money loan when buying a multi-family property is that as opposed to conventional financing methods its fast, flexible and more practical. You will have your funding disbursed in a shorter amount of time and with far less paperwork than if you go with traditional lenders. Regardless of whether you are new to commercial real estate investing or you are an experienced industry practitioner seeking to expand your holdings, multi-family commercial units offer a strong investment profile. Express Capital Financing provides multi-family hard money loans for investors that are looking for an ideal investment beyond the scope of single-family homes. Like all of our private money lending options, we ensure a hassle-free and reliably efficient loan process from start to finish. Our team of dedicated experts will work with you no matter if you are just getting your feet wet in the real estate investment industry or are a seasoned expert to craft a personally tailored financing package that meets each and every one of your short and long-term financial plans.