If you need some cash right now, with the promise of quickly making it back? Just need a short term bridge? Then you might be thinking about getting a hard money loan. These real property-secured loans can provide you with an influx you need, and can then be paid off in full quickly. However, you need to go in with a plan before you plunge into getting this kind of loan, and there are some things you should be aware of before going in. Here’s how you can secure a hard money loan today and have liquid cash you can use for anything in just a few days:
Take Stock of What You Have
First, it pays to make sure you know where you’re at financially before committing to a loan. Hard money loans are best for either quick turnarounds or for people with bad credit but lots of property equity; make sure that this applies to your situation. This means looking at your credit, debts, income, and expenses holistically as one big conglomerate of your fiscal life.
You’ll also want to take stock of the property that you will be using as collateral for the loan and make sure that the equity you have in it is substantial enough to accomplish what you need it to. This type of loan grows with the equity in the property used as collateral, so it’s important for you to know just how much money you’re going to be getting from the loan. Who knows, maybe you’ll realize you’ll have some extra money to pour into something fun or paying back the loan early.
Make Sure This is the Right Way for You
Hard money loans may be the way to go for you, but you’ll want to make sure that you’re not forgetting some other way you can get money quickly. Maybe you have another way to get money out of your home, or maybe you have some other assets you can sell off; the point is, you want to be sure that this is the right way for your budgets to balance.
Once you’ve decided on a hard money loan, then it’s time to find your lender. These types of loans aren’t commonly lent out by banks, so you’ll have to go off the beaten path a bit. Once you’ve found a lender that you can trust, it’s time to talk specifics:
Meet With a Financial Advisor
Not everyone has a perfectly honed mind for finances, so it’s best to eliminate any doubts you may have by scheduling a meeting to go over your plan with a financial advisor. Not only can they iron out any parts of your financial plan, they can suggest alternative ideas you may not have even considered before. “Meeting with an advisor before you apply for your loan is a must,” say Quick Lending Hard Money Lenders, a Houston-area lender.
This person can also help you both do and submit your paperwork on time, which is critical for getting approved for this loan. You’ll want to get approved as soon as possible, of course, so you can quickly get back to whatever project you may be funding with this loan. So with that in mind, the most important tip for this stage of the hard money loan process is:
Submit Your Paperwork
In the end, the best advice you can get for securing a hard money loan is simply to meet your paperwork deadlines. Many people simply fail to do this, which can prevent you from getting the cash you need. You can set up a plan to complete things on schedule with your advisor, and if you stick to it, you should be approved in no time.
While paperwork is no fun, it is a necessary part of the process, and a good chance to get one last look at all your financial records to make sure you’re on the right track. Hopefully this process will have also cleared up any mysteries going on in your bank accounts; if, at this point in the loan application process, you still don’t know what your finances look like, then you probably should just forgo the loan in the first place.
Conclusion
While hard money loans aren’t perfect for every situation, they can be a huge boost to you at a time when you need cash quickly. Whether for quickly turning around a project for a profit or just to float you through a short period of financial difficulty, a hard money loan may be the right move for you, and it may just be what gets you through to the other side.