subject: A Guide to Finding Reliable Hard Money Lenders [print this page] Although some people will discourage you from seeking the assistance of hard money lenders because of the high interest rates that these financiers are imposing on their borrowers, enlisting the services of these lenders can help you in more ways than you can imagine. As compared to banks, mortgage companies, and credit unions, lenders of hard money are more flexible and less restrictive as far as granting a loan for real estate investments is concerned. In addition, they use a shorter underwriting process, which will enable you to quickly obtain the funds you need to close a real estate deal.
One of the challenges of qualifying for a hard money loan, however, is finding a hard money lender itself. As you may know, these non-traditional lenders don't have storefront offices that you can march into anytime, unlike banks and huge lending companies. But just because finding them can be difficult, it doesn't necessarily mean that it can't be done. If you want to find a good source of funds for your real estate investing business, listed below are some of the things that you should do:
1. Ask the people you know. Hard money lenders can be anybody. For this reason, asking your neighbors, friends, and relatives for referrals is one of the best ways to find someone who might be willing to provide funding for your real estate investments.
2. Get recommendations from your colleagues in the real estate investing business. An effective way to get leads to lenders of hard money is to ask those investors who have already experienced working with them. Therefore, you should attend REIA meetings and gatherings and get referrals from your friends in the real estate business.
3. Ask accountants for leads. Accountants are good sources of names since most of them have access to people who have large cash on hand and might be willing to finance your real estate investments for profit.
4. Obtain referrals from title companies and/or real estate attorneys. These individuals or entities can also be a great help in your quest to find a good source of hard money since they are usually the ones who prepare loan documents for these non-traditional lenders.
5. Surf the Internet. If you think hard money lenders don't have any other means to promote their business, you're sadly mistaken. Nowadays, these financiers are taking advantage of the marketing prowess of the Internet to advertise their services. So if you ran out of people to ask for referrals, then your best bet would be to search the World Wide Web.
