9 programs · Project loans first · Investment property only

Real estate investor loans, picked by the deal

You don’t need a loan menu. You need to know what this deal takes to get funded. These 9 real estate investor loans start with project money that buys, fixes or builds the property, then the rental loans that hold it or refinance you out. Rental loans qualify on the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR): the rent divided by the property’s full monthly payment.

Project loans

Get it bought, fixed or built.

Short-term, interest-only money sized on the deal itself: what you pay, what the work costs and what the property is worth once it’s done. Lenders published 6- to 24-month terms in October 2026, and a sale or a refinance pays the loan off.

Fix and flip loans

One short-term loan buys the house and pays for the rehab in draws. The sale pays it off.

Use it for: Rehabs you plan to sell, not keep
Sized on: Price, rehab budget, after-repair value
Term: 6–24 months, interest-only

Fix and flip loans: full terms →

Hard money loans

Asset-based money for the deal a bank won't wait for: auctions, distressed buys, tight contract dates.

Use it for: Fast closings on property banks pass on
Sized on: The property's value and how you'll repay
Term: 6–24 months, interest-only

Hard money loans: full terms →

Bridge loans

Close now on a property that needs little work, then sell it or refinance into a rental loan.

Use it for: Buying before the long-term loan is ready
Sized on: Value, your equity and the exit
Term: 12–24 months, often no prepayment penalty

Bridge loans: full terms →

BRRRR loans

Rehab money for a house you'll keep, then a refinance on the rent that pulls your cash back out.

Use it for: Buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat
Sized on: After-repair value and scope, then the rent
Term: Rehab loan, then a 30-year rental refinance

BRRRR loans: full terms →

Ground-up construction loans

Fund the lot and the build: part of the land at closing, hard costs in inspected draws.

Use it for: Spec homes, infill lots, build-to-rent
Sized on: Plans, budget, finished value, build record
Term: 12–24 months, paid out in draws

Construction loans: full terms →

Rental loans

The hold, or the way out.

Long-term loans for a property that’s finished and earning rent. Buy a rental outright, refinance out of a flip, bridge or construction loan, or pull your cash back out of a house you already own. Each one is sized on rent coverage (the DSCR), not your W-2s, and can close in an LLC.

DSCR rental loans

Keep it as a rental. The debt service coverage ratio (DSCR), rent against the payment, qualifies the loan instead of your tax returns.

Use it for: Holding 1–4 unit rentals for years
Sized on: Debt service coverage ratio: rent ÷ payment
Term: 30-year fixed or ARM, interest-only options

DSCR loans: full terms →

Short-term rental loans

Hold an Airbnb or VRBO on a long-term loan sized on nightly income, projected on a purchase or booked on a refinance.

Use it for: Vacation homes and nightly rentals
Sized on: Projected or trailing-12-month booking income
Term: Fixed-rate, ARM or interest-only

Short-term rental loans: full terms →

Rental cash-out refinance

Pull your cash back out of a rental you own and put it into the next deal.

Use it for: Rentals with equity sitting idle
Sized on: Appraised value and the debt service coverage ratio
Term: 30-year fixed or ARM, most to 75% LTV

Cash-out refinance: full terms →

Rental portfolio loans

Roll a stack of rentals into one loan: one closing, one payment, one maturity date.

Use it for: Owners of several rentals
Sized on: Combined rent across every property
Term: 30-year, or 5-, 7- or 10-year balloon

Portfolio loans: full terms →

How the loan gets sized

Lenders run your deal through up to four tests. The smallest answer is your loan.

Your paycheck barely enters into it. A project lender checks cost and after-repair value; a rental lender checks value and rent coverage. Whichever test gives the lowest number is the number that decides it.

LTV · Loan-to-valueLoan ÷ value today

The rental and bridge test. On a purchase, rental lenders published up to 80% of value, and 85% at a few for scores of 720–740 or higher. On a cash-out refinance, 75% was the most common cap.

LTC · Loan-to-costLoan ÷ (price + budget)

The project test, because today’s value ignores the money you’re about to spend. Flip lenders published 85–100% of the purchase plus all of the rehab. Construction lenders published 82.5–90% of total cost.

ARV · After-repair valueAppraised value once the work is done

The ceiling on a project loan. Flip lenders capped the whole loan at 70–80% of ARV, or 60–70% for newer investors and heavy rehabs at some. Construction lenders capped it at 65–75% of the finished value.

DSCR · Debt service coverage ratioMonthly rent ÷ PITIA

The rental test. PITIA is principal, interest, taxes, insurance and association dues. At 1.00 the rent pays exactly that. Conservative lenders published 1.00–1.05 minimums; others go to 0.75–0.80, and a few offer no-ratio loans.

One house, both loans.

A fixer under contract at $250,000 with a $110,000 scope and a $420,000 after-repair value. First the project loan that buys and fixes it, then the rental loan that takes it out.

PROJECT LOAN · THE ARV CAP DECIDES IT

Purchase price: $250,000
Rehab budget: $110,000
After-repair value: $420,000
Test 1: 90% of price + all of the rehab: $335,000
Test 2: 75% of ARV: $315,000
Loan: the lower of the two: $315,000

Cash you bring at purchase$45,000

Loan-to-cost is 87.5% ($315,000 ÷ $360,000). With $110,000 held back for draws, the purchase advance drops from $225,000 to $205,000, so you bring $45,000 instead of $25,000, plus closing costs. 90% of price and 75% of ARV are caps several flip lenders published in October 2026.

RENTAL REFINANCE · THE RENT DECIDES IT

Appraised value after rehab: $420,000
New loan at 75% LTV: $315,000
Market rent: $2,950 / mo
Principal and interest, 7.375%, 30-year: $2,176
Taxes $340 + insurance $150: $490
PITIA: $2,666

DSCR ($2,950 ÷ $2,666)1.11

1.11 clears the 1.00–1.05 floors at conservative lenders. At $2,600 rent it falls to 0.98, and you’d need a lender that goes below 1.00. 7.375% was the 2025 median rate on 30-year investor loans in HMDA data. The new loan just repays the $315,000 rehab loan, before closing costs, and hands back none of your $45,000.

Run your own numbers in the fix and flip calculator and the DSCR calculator, or read the LTV, LTC and ARV guide.

Published terms · October 2026

The limits each program works inside.

Credit floors, leverage, loan sizes and terms taken from lenders’ own program pages on October 19, 2026. They show where the market sits, not what you’ll be offered: your terms depend on the property, your credit and your track record. Rates are on the rates page.

Program	Credit floor	Leverage	Loan size	Term	Watch for
Fix and flip / hard money	600–660	85–100% of the price and 100% of rehab, with the total capped at 70–80% of ARV	$50K–$5M	6–24 months, interest-only	Experience tiers move both leverage and rate
Bridge	660–700	70–85% of value; up to 85% of cost at Roc	$50K–$5M	12–24 months; no prepayment penalty at Lima One or Kiavi	Roc wants the exit to be a sale or a refinance at a 1.10 DSCR
BRRRR	The rehab loan’s floor, then the rental loan’s	Rehab phase: as much as 95% of cost, with the rehab fully funded. Refinance: roughly 75% of ARV	Set by each phase	9–24 month rehab loan, then a 30-year rental loan	90 days of seasoning at an outside lender; often waived when the same lender refinances
Ground-up construction	650 at the one lender that publishes it	82.5–90% of cost, 100% of hard costs and 60–75% of the land, capped at 65–75% of finished value	$50K–$10M; LendingOne to $40M	12–24 months, with extensions at some lenders	Most want one finished ground-up build in about the past 3 years
DSCR rental	620–680, most at 640–660	Purchases to 80% LTV; a few go to 85% with 720–740+ scores	About $70K–$4.5M	30-year fixed, ARMs, 40-year at some	A 5-4-3-2-1 prepayment penalty is the usual default
Short-term rental	700 at Lima One	75% on a purchase and 70% cash-out at Lima One; 80% and 75% at Easy Street	$75K–$2.5M at Lima One	Fixed, ARM, interest-only or balloon (Lima One)	Easy Street discounts newer hosts’ projected income by 25%
Cash-out refinance	Rental-loan floors; leverage drops to 60% at low scores	70–80% of value, most at 75%	Rental-loan sizes	30-year fixed or ARM	About 90 days of ownership first at most lenders
Rental portfolio	680	60–80% of value on a purchase, 55–75% cash-out	$225K–$5M for smaller portfolios	30-year, or a 5-, 7- or 10-year balloon	2–5 property minimums; Roc and Civic want 90%+ leased

Scroll sideways for the other columns →

Published closing times

Fix and flip, hard money: Kiavi: 7 days. LendingOne: 7–10 business days. RCN: 10 business days.
Bridge: Kiavi and LendingOne: 7–14 business days.
DSCR rental: Defy: 14–21 days. Easy Street: 30 days. Griffin: 34 days on average.

Picking the loan

Three questions pick the loan.

Answer them in order. Most deals end up with two loans: one to get in, one to get out.

01
Does it need work before anyone would rent it or buy it?
Yes points you to a project loan: a fix and flip loan for a rehab, a construction loan for a lot or a teardown. A little work, or none, points to a bridge loan or straight to a rental loan.
02
How many days until closing?
If the contract closes in under three weeks, the deal needs project-loan speed. Hard money and bridge lenders published 7 days to 14 business days; rental lenders took about 2–5 weeks. Close on the fast loan, then refinance onto the cheaper one.
03
Will you sell it or keep it?
Sell, and the sale repays a flip or bridge loan. Keep it, and the exit is a refinance, so run that before you buy: a BRRRR plan depends on the rent covering the payment on a new loan of about 75% of ARV. Test it in the BRRRR calculator.

Your deal, your loan

Find your situation. That’s your loan.

Still between two? Start the form anyway. Tell us the deal in a few taps, and on the call a loan specialist settles the program with the numbers in front of you both.

Fund My Deal

Straight answers

Questions investors ask before they pick a loan

Is hard money the same as a fix and flip loan?

Close, not identical. Hard money is the lending style: a short-term, asset-based loan from a private or non-bank lender, sized more on the property than on you. A fix and flip loan is hard money with a rehab budget attached, paid out in draws as each stage passes inspection. A bridge loan uses the same style on a property that needs little or no work.

How fast can an investor loan close?

Project loans move fastest. In October 2026, Kiavi advertised a 7-day close on flips, RCN quoted 10 business days and LendingOne 7 to 10, and bridge lenders 7 to 14 business days. Rental loans take longer: Defy published 14–21 days and Griffin a 34-day average. Paperwork is what usually slows a file, so have the contract, scope of work and entity documents ready on day one.

How much cash do I need to bring to a flip?

Budget for the gap between the loan and the price, plus closing costs, points and a few months of interest. Lenders will fund most or all of the price (85–100% in October 2026) and the full rehab, yet the ARV cap of 70–80% can still bind first. Buy at $250,000 with a $110,000 rehab and a $420,000 ARV, and a 75% ARV cap means bringing $45,000 at purchase, not $25,000.

Can I use a bridge loan now and a rental loan later?

Yes. That’s what bridge loans are for: close quickly, lease the property, then let a DSCR rental loan pay the bridge off. Line up the second loan before you close the first. An outside lender typically wants roughly 90 days of ownership before it lends on the new value; Roc, for one, holds a refinance inside 3 months to 80% of your total cost basis. Lima One waives seasoning when it made the first loan.

What credit score do investor loans require?

Each program sets its own floor. In October 2026 they ran lowest on flips, at 600–660, and highest on Lima One’s short-term rental loan, at 700. In between: rental loans 620–680, most at 640–660; bridge 660–700; portfolios 680; and 650 at the only construction lender that lists a minimum. Clearing the floor gets you in. A higher score mainly buys leverage and a lower rate.

Will a flip lender fund my first deal?

Often, at lower leverage. No experience was required at Roc, Civic or New Silver in October 2026, while Lima One asked for one exit in the last 36 months. Lenders that tier by track record, RCN among them, fund more of the purchase and price lower as your finished deals add up. New builds are stricter: most construction lenders want a completed ground-up project in about the last three years.

Do bridge and rental loans have prepayment penalties?

Bridge loans often don’t, which suits a quick sale or refinance: Lima One and Kiavi publish none on theirs. Rental loans are different. DSCR lenders tend to default to a five-year step-down written 5-4-3-2-1: repay in year one and you owe 5% of the balance, then 4%, 3%, 2% and 1% by year five. You can buy a shorter penalty, or none, with a higher rate.

Can I borrow in my LLC?

Yes. Every rental lender in our October 2026 research allowed LLC borrowers, and Lima One, Roc and Civic require one, often with a personal guarantee from the owners. Project loans close in entities all the time: 81% of 2025 short-term investor loans in public HMDA data went to entities. Whether and how to form an LLC is a question for your attorney or CPA.

Can Fund Your Deal finance a home I’ll live in?

No. We only fund business-purpose loans: property you’ll rent out, renovate or build, with neither you nor any family member living there. That rules out a duplex where you’d live in one unit, and a vacation home you’d use for more than 14 days a year, the line Regulation Z draws. For your own home, talk to a residential mortgage lender instead.

Where these numbers come from (28)Checked October 26, 2026

Each rate, limit, fee and timeline on this page is a range we took from lender rate sheets, published program terms and public lending data, dated as listed. Read them as a picture of the market rather than a quote. What a lender offers on your deal turns on the house itself, your credit score and how many projects you have finished.