Beretta Only

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Dispelling the Myths About Arizona Hard Money Lenders

We'll admit it — Arizona Hard Money Lenders don't exactly have the best reputation. But is that bad rap fair or unfair? Let's look at some of the myths surrounding Arizona Hard Money Loans.

When you hear the term "hard money lender" you might picture a loan shark or a shady smooth talker who's looking to separate you from your hard-earned money. In fact, some people still think of these types of loans as predatory. There are a few reasons for that, but the main reason they've developed a bad rap is that in the old days there were lenders who took advantage of people.

Some unscrupulous lenders would find borrowers in desperate situations, make them put up their property as collateral and set up terms that were nearly impossible to pay back. Their sole intention was to have the borrower default on the loan so they could seize their property.

These days, though, thanks in part to the passing of the Dodd-Frank Act, predatory and scam-like practices like these are incredibly rare. In today's climate, we've gotten back to what Arizona Hard Money Loans were always meant to be — loans that filled a void the banks weren't occupying.

How are Arizona Hard Money Loans meant to work?

Banks want everyone who borrows their money to fall into a very specific category. They'll set strict guidelines, asking you to have nearly a perfect credit score, a healthy bank account, and blemish-free past. Not everyone fits into their restrictive box and that's where Arizona Hard Money Loans come in. With Arizona Hard Money Loans, you put up collateral, you typically pay higher interest rates, and your terms are very short. As a result, lenders of this type are more concerned with the collateral and your plans — whether its renovations, commercial property, or a fix-and-flip — than your financial situation.

Finding the right hard money lender for your needs

Now that you know what Arizona Hard Money Loans are all about, you might be thinking that getting one is a good move for you, especially if you've been told "no" at banks and credit unions. So what are your next steps? We recommend calling, chatting, texting, or sitting down with a hard money lender in Arizona. He or she will be able to listen to your investment plans, look at your situation, and help you figure out the best way to get the funding you need.

Dennis Dahlber Broker Ri CEO Level 4 Funding LLC Dennis Dahlberg
Broker/RI/CEO/MLO
Level 4 Funding LLC
Hard Money Lender
Hard Money Loans
Hard Money Loan
Arizona Tel: (623) 582-4444
Texas Tel: (512) 516-1177
Dennis@level4funding.com
Dennis Dahlberg Broker/RI/CEO

About the Author: Dennis has been working in the real estate industry in some capacity for the last 40 years. He purchased his first property when he was just 18 years old. He quickly learned about the amazing investment opportunities provided by trust deed investing and hard money loans. His desire to help others make money in real estate investing led him to specialize in alternative funding for real estate investors who may have trouble getting a traditional bank loan. Dennis is passionate about alternative funding sources and sharing his knowledge with others to help make their dreams come true. Dennis has been married to his wonderful wife for 43 years. They have 2 beautiful daughters 5 amazing grandchildren. Dennis has been an Arizona resident for the past 40 years.

Bridge Loans: The Help that's right for You?

Bridge loans allow investors and developers the opportunity get their unrealized projects off the drawing board and into reality. These loans allow investors to take advantage of opportunities when funding is unavailable, for reasons of bad credit, speculative projects, or if the investment property is in poor condition or suffering due to low occupancy.

Bridge financing acts as a bridge between a properties initial purchase and its eventual refinancing or resale. If a borrowers financial profile doesn't meet the bank's criteria, they'll face consistent denial. Loan officers might shudder at a project that seems particularly speculative, say demolishing a building to make way for a new development or if a property suffers under low occupancy or poor condition, in these cases conventional lenders are not going to risk getting involved.

The Benefits of Bridge Loans really shine in situations like the following

• Bad Credit: Say a developer took a hit on their last project. Work got stalled, and all at once his lender called his loan, and let us assume he defaulted. Now the site sits vacant, and his financial situation prevents him from getting another loan. He approaches a bridge lender and says "I only have a little work left here I just need a bit more money," after receiving bridge financing work on his development finishes, the banks are well pleased with all the extra income he's earning. Finally, he's able to refinance to a long-term mortgage, which pays off his bridge loan and allows him to enjoy a steady stream of income from his shiny new development.

• Speculation: Our developer sees a derelict factory in a blighted industrial area, where the local university will be building their new campus. Our developer is pretty convinced he can develop low-cost apartments in place of the factory and make a boatload. But the bank considers the area, and says no, as they can't see his vision. With bridge financing, our developer can build his apartments. They quickly reach almost full occupancy after the new campus opens allowing our developer to sell off the new complex, paying off his loan and earning him a tidy profit.

• Neglected property: An unscrupulous landlord has been nickel and diming his tenants for years, disgruntled renters have been steadily moving out, and the landlord seeing the apartments as being more trouble than their worth, puts the property on the market. Our buyer is convinced that with a few improvements and more reasonable management the property can quickly turn to full occupancy. But the bank considers the current state of the property and denies him his loan. With the help of bridge lender, our buyer manages to purchase the property, makes a few small improvements and under his patient care, the complex achieves near 90 percent occupancy. Just a few necessary improvements, and a little competence on his part and our investor can refinance, allowing him to earn a generous income from the once god-forsaken apartment complex.

In short, bridge loans can help your dreams come true

Without the help of bridge financing, none of the developers mentioned above would have ever seen their projects move. Bridge lenders are willing to speculate on a properties potential, looking beyond a borrower's poor financial situation, a projects seemingly speculative nature or a properties derelict condition.

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Loans For Flipping Houses: Why you should avoid the Bank

Many are enticed to get into the flipping business, either by reality television or the prospect of tidy profits. But few people just getting into the business have cash in their pocket to buy and remodel a house on their own, and most need financing. If you are new to the flipping business learn why banks and every other financing method out there is less than ideal in the case of fix and flip loans.

Some new to the flipping business might leverage the equity in their home, refinancing their personal residence to embark on their first flipping project. Is putting your actual house on the line to flip another house a good idea? I'll leave that for you to decide.

Another strategy is to take out a small conventional loan to purchase the house, and then take out an unsecured loan to cover the cost of remodeling. This strategy is basically like getting a credit card to pay for your flipping project, and paying bills with a credit card is never a sound financial strategy. So why not just go to your friendly neighborhood bank?

A conventional loan will always fall short when it comes to fix and flip loans

Many novice real estate investors are lured to banks by the prospect of lower interest rates. But conventional lenders fall short in almost every respect the case of flips. First, the tedious application process could cause you to miss out on the best investment opportunities, as foreclosures and short sales move quickly and traditional lenders simply can't keep up. If the property you have in mind is anything less than live-able condition, your application will be denied outright. But there's a bigger reason to avoid going to the bank to finance flips

Without exception, even if a bank miraculously finances your flip, the loan will not cover the cost of your renovations. Ever. Banks give loans as a percentage of a properties current value, your bank loan might cover 90 percent of a 50,000 dollar shack and this loan will get you that shack but nothing more. If you want to remodel the home thereafter you will need to take out another loan.

So home equity, unsecured loans, and even banks fall short when it comes to financing flips, but not all hope is lost.

Hard money loans remain the best way to finance house flips

A cursory search of the term ‘hard money' might make you balk at the double-digit interest rates offered by these lenders. Understand that those double-digit interest payments don't amount to much as your plan should be to sell the property within a few months.

What sets hard money apart in the case of flips is that these loans are given as a percentage of the properties value after it's been repaired. Unlike with a bank loan, with hard money not only can you get enough money to purchase a distressed home, but you also get the money you need to improve it.

This factor sets hard money apart from other types of financing, be it bank loans, unsecured loans or equity loans. Home equity loans put your house at risk, unsecured loans are expensive, and bank loans will not cover the full cost of a flipping project. If you want to get into the flipping business, your best bet is, and likely always will be hard money.

Construction Loans: The Benefits of Short to Permanent Financing

Construction loans are a confusing issue, a Frankenstein of sorts among real estate financing, as they usually comes in the form of two loans in one, the first covers the cost of construction while the other loan is a long-term, conventional type mortgage. You risk less when you have refinancing built as part of your loan package.

Let us call the ideal form of construction financing "short to perm."

You have the option to get a loan that purely covers the cost of construction, but a short to perm loan with refinancing is better. Many articles on the internet cite vague, if not trivial benefits in the case of short to perm loans. Some of these benefits include you only need to pay closing costs once, which results in lower loan fees. Some talk up the fact that with refinancing built into your loan package your interest rate is locked in.

These are all nice benefits when it comes to short to perm loans. But it's safe to say loan fees are a minor expense in the context of a construction project. Also if you think about it, how likely are interest rates going to go up drastically throughout a 6-month construction project? Barring an economic meltdown it is unlikely that this is going to happen.

The real advantage of having refinancing built into your loan package is that it protects you from risk should your project face an unexpected disaster, after construction finishes.

Singular construction loans may cover the cost of construction, but what if things don't go quite according to plan?

Say a developer gets a single short-term construction loan, he aims to construct a post-modern apartment building complete with a pool a gym, a sauna, and all sorts of other yuppie amenities. The initial monthly rent offered is pretty high as a result of all these features. After construction ends, potential tenants fret over the 2,000 dollar initial rent, but this is the absolute lowest rent he can offer to break even and maintain all those shiny amenities.

Before his loan comes due his beautiful apartment complex lingers at roughly 15 percent occupancy, and bank after bank denies him the opportunity to refinance for this reason. The initial lender who financed his construction calls his loan, and he'll have to pay the full balance himself, and we can only hope this didn't ruin him.

Risk less in the case of construction loans by having refinancing worked out ahead of time

If our developer had refinancing worked into his initial loan, his project would still suffer as a result of low occupancy, and yes he'd still have a loan to pay. But by securing refinancing ahead of time, he would have time to maneuver and secure more tenants. Instead, he had to make a massive balloon payment to pay off his construction loan, without much in the way of additional money coming in.

In short, the main benefit of a short-term construction loan with refinancing built is that it assures you that you'll be covered if things don't work out according to plan.

Simple Strategies to risk less when it comes to Fix and Flip Loans

More and more are getting into the flipping business, look at the statistics, In 2017 207,888 single family homes and condos were flipped, the highest number of homes flipped since the pre-recession heyday of 2006. The average profit made per flip last year was 68.143 dollars. That's serious money. The recent rise in flips indicates many new people are getting into the business and its likely most of them are making use of fix and flip loans to do so. Learn some mistakes you want to avoid when it comes to financing flips.

Financing flips is in no way similar to financing a primary residence. These loans are for the short term, as no one in the flipping business plans to hold onto their property for the standard 15-30 year period. They are also expensive, and interest charged usually amounts to the double digits.

Considering the expense and the short-term nature of these loans you want to ensure that:

1. Your property can sell quickly

2. That you take out the smallest loan possible.

Consider the following as examples of what not to do in the case of fix-n-flip loans

• The HGTV'er: This flipper purchases a property that is pretty much livable, a fresh paint job and some new carpets and it would be a quick and easy sale. But the smiling heads of the property brothers float into her mind, "take out this wall, make it nice and open concept." She takes out a rather large loan to reconfigure the homes entire layout. After the walls come down and the dust settles our flipper discovers that her extensive demolition didn't add much to the value after all. All that unnecessary work took time, a time during which she was paying those double-digit interest rates and this cost her several thousand dollars.

• The Designer: Our next flipper is obsessed with clean, minimal interiors and slick German appliances. Her vision for her flip is taken straight out of a Mies Van Der Rohe picture book, and again she takes out a rather large loan to bring her vision into reality. In the end, the sparse, minimal interior, Italian concrete countertops, and full picture windows didn't contribute much to the homes final sale price. Her property sits idly on the listings for many months because her vision didn't match the expectations of most buyers. While her house sits on the market, she continues to make those hefty interest payments on her larger than necessary loan.

Risk less in the case of fix and flip loans by using the following simple strategies

• Consider the minimum amount of renovation needed to bring the property to a marketable standard. The HGTV'er didn't do this, and thus she took out a loan that was larger than necessary.

• Only add features that add real value. The designer might have remodeled the home in a way that was aesthetically pleasing but not only was her vision expensive; it also didn't mesh with the expectations of most buyers. She took out a larger than necessary loan but also the features she added hindered her ability to resell and therefore pay off that loan.

If you don't employ these tactics, you could end up taking out an unnecessarily large and expensive loan to finance your next flipping project.

Spec Home Financing: Why Private Money is the Real Deal

It's doubtful that any builder has the cash in on hand to construct a spec home out thin air. Most developers need some form of capital to bring their visions into reality, and like any other form of real estate financing, there are a variety of options. When it comes to spec home financing there are three broad classes, banks, credit lines, equity loans, and private money. When it comes to spec homes, private money is almost always your best bet.

The great recession still haunts conventional banks. Come in with a word like "speculative," attached to your application and expect a few raised eyebrows. In the case of spec homes, banks only offer loans to the most experienced developers, but there is a catch. Even if you qualify at a brick and mortar bank, the loan they give you is based on a set percentage of the lands appraised value. Will 90 percent of a 50,000 dollar plot cover the cost of constructing a 300,000 dollar home? Probably not.

Credit lines are another option, but qualifying for a 300,000 dollar line of credit is no easy feat.

So another option might be leveraging your personal assets to finance your next project. Yes, you put your real house on the line to construct a home based purely on speculation. No matter how much you might believe in your project, this is not a sound idea.

None of these options are exactly great choices when it comes to financing the construction of a spec home. But never fear not all hope is lost.

Private money advantages when it comes to spec home financing

Private money usually refers to individual investors or lenders who act more like investors in the upside potential of your property (i.e., Hard money). Private money offers an advantage over banks in that the loan terms are flexible, as draw schedules, and interest rates are up for negotiation. But above all these lenders are willing to offer funds as a percentage of a homes projected value, which means your loan can actually cover the cost of construction. Private money might be more expensive than say a home equity loan, but putting your actual house on the line to build a house on speculation is not a very sound strategy.

However, private lenders don't just throw money away. These are individuals or groups with their own interests, and you will have to prove to them that your project is worthwhile.

Tactics to increase eligibility for spec home financing

You need to convince private investors and lenders to get on board with your project:

• Plan to develop an improved lot: It's going to be hard to convince a seasoned investor to get on board if you intend to build an architectural gem in the middle of a desert landscape, ala Frank Lloyd Wright. Plan to develop your project on land that comes pre-connected to water, sewer lines, thoroughfares and the basic conveniences of modern life. Building on land in an urban area assures private investors that your property will sell quickly.

• Plan a project that can be finished quickly: Private lenders and investors don't want to wait out a plodding construction project. Investors want to get a return, ideally as soon as possible, so have a clear plan to build your spec home with construction preferably lasting no more than six months. The shorter the timeline, the more imminent the promised return and the more likely you'll be able to get private investors and lenders on board.

• Develop a story: convince investors of the possibility involved with your spec home project, spec homes are called spec homes because they are constructed based on speculation after all. Your speculations should be based on market realities and not pure fantasy. Research patterns of supply and demand in the immediate area. Say a university campus is expanding in an area with limited apartment availability and you plan to build low-cost housing for students. Citing real market trends like these will help convince private investors your project is worthwhile.

Using specific details like these will help convince private investors and lenders alike to get on board. With private money, you can get your spec home off the drawing board and into reality.