Choosing the Right Fix and Flip Lender
Whether you are an experienced “house flipper” or a first-timer, choosing the right fix & flip lender can be a daunting task. Unlike the shopping for a home loan where you are typically dealing with a local or national bank, the private mortgage/ fix & flip loan market is much more fragmented. This fragmentation leads to a wide variance in product types with can be to the Borrower’s benefit or detriment depending on which fix & flip lender you choose. Interest rates and loan size, while critically important, are not the only factors that will dictate whether the lender and their fix and flip loan product is right for you. Here is a list of questions to ask your fix & flip lender before making a decision:
Who services your fix and flip loans?
Fix and flip loans are short term loans in which you will have significant and regular interaction with your lender or servicer. Most critically, you need to understand how renovation draws will be processed and what the timeline will look like.
Do you sell your fix and flip loans?
The cat is out of the bag. The majority of fix and flip lenders actually don’t plan on keeping your loan. Many house flipping loan originators will sell your loan to large institutions who will package your loan into a bond. Why does this matter? Imagine your construction gets delayed and you need to extend your loan by 3 or 6 months. If your lender sold your loan, they no longer have the ability to modify the terms of the loan.
