Hard Money vs. Private Money in Real Estate Investment

One of the first things people looking to start investing in real estate generally ask about is how to find investors, or how to generate the capital to do their deals. While a traditional bank or mortgage lender can be of some help, most real estate investment companies today use other options for funding. Two of these options are known in the business as “hard money” and “private money.”

Hard Money

In real estate investment, the term “hard money” refers to a short-term loan which is used to finance a property. Hard money gets its name from the fact that these type of loans are very expensive for the borrower and yet also very advantageous for the lender. For real estate investment transactions, hard money lenders will generally only loan on properties up to 65% loan-to-value and will charge an interest rate well above the current standard mortgage rates. The reason for the high cost of obtaining hard money is that it is much easier to borrow, and because of this the lender is placed in a position with much more risk of default. Hard money can be good for very short-term needs or if a situation comes up without any readily available alternatives.

Private Money

Private money, just as it sounds, is money you can obtain from private individuals for real estate investment funding purposes. Private money can be obtained in a variety of ways, and can be a much better deal than using hard money. The biggest advantage of private money is the lower cost than hard money, and the added flexibility of working with investors who come to know you and understand your business.

Finding private money lenders requires prospecting for investors. When you enter the arena of real estate investing, prospecting for investors needs to be something you do on a regular basis in order to insure that you always have the capital readily available to fund your deals. Finding the right real estate investors means that you can make the best deals possible, and you can make them on your own terms rather than the terms of a bank or a hard money lender.

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