Frequently Asked Questions

“Hard money” is the term used for loans funded by private parties that cannot be funded by conventional lending institutions. There are many types of hard money loans. Other common industry terms used synonymously with “hard money loans” include: private loans, asset-based loans, bridge loans, rehab loans, and interim loans. Generally, Streamline Funding focuses on providing profitable lending solutions to real estate investors who purchase residential investment properties at substantial discounts and/or properties with large value-add or upside opportunity.

Absolutely! Many types of investors utilize hard money loans–from first-time investors starting their first fix-and-flip project, to enterprise-level home builders and developers who require quicker funding than traditional lenders (i.e. banks) will offer.

Real estate investors, even seasoned ones, often need quick funding to secure a deal they have in the crosshairs. Though banks and other institutional lenders may offer the lowest interest rates, they can’t provide the speed or flexibility necessary to make some deals happen fast enough. Plenty of investors–both first-timers and hundredth-timers–opt for a hard-money loan when their situation demands speed.

Even investors with years of experience, strong financial statements, and access to traditional financing often opt for a hard money instead of a traditional loan when:

a) They need to close quickly, and their bank can’t meet their deadline.
b) They have an excellent investment opportunity but don’t have sufficient financial strength to get a bank loan.
c) They want more leverage than a bank is willing to give.

a) Hard money loans require a much less complex application process in order for the lender to make a final loan decision.
b) There’s less scrutiny into the investor’s personal financial situation–including income, tax returns, assets and liquid reserves–compared to the scrutiny required to secure a bank loan.
c) Streamline Funding doesn’t require perfect credit and/or substantial amounts of disposable income from our clients. Instead, we focus on the merits of the specific deal under consideration.

a) Hard money loans typically carry higher interest rates and origination fees than conventional bank loans.
b) The quality of active lenders varies substantially. In certain cases, a predatory lender may seek to write loans where the risk of default is considerably higher, simply in hopes of foreclosing on the underlying real estate. Streamline Funding is very different. We constantly seek the repeat business of our clients, and approve only those deals that we believe are financially feasible.

Hard money lenders differ from one another in many ways, including their lending criteria. (i.e. Loan to Value or Loan to Cost ratios), the types of real estate on which they lend, their minimum and maximum loan sizes, and the geographic regions they service. If you want to compare a hard money lender to another from an “apples to apples” perspective, you might consider such variables as pricing (fees and interest rates), flexibility of terms, the lender’s reputation, and the quality of service.

Over 75% of the investors Streamline Funding has financed have returned to us for a second (or third, or fourth) loan. Our aim is to earn your trust, and to become your long-term real estate investment lender.

Easy. You can get pre-qualified right here on our site, by submitting the form on our Apply page. The whole process takes only about five minutes, and once you’re done, a Streamline Funding loan officer will contact you within one business day.