The Quick Read: Usually not on the same loan, because the after-repair value cap sets the real ceiling, but a flipper can change the structure by moving up an experience tier, pledging other collateral, adding a second layer of capital, or supporting a higher appraised value. Each route has limits and costs, and none removes the cash you still owe at closing.
- Hard money is sized two ways: a percentage of project cost, and a ceiling on the total loan as a percentage of after-repair value (ARV). The lower number wins.
- Across Lendmire’s wholesale network, fix-and-flip loans run 93% of project cost at 5 or more completed projects, 90% at 2 or more, and 85% with fewer than 2. Every tier is capped at 75% of ARV.
- Up to 100% of the rehab budget can be funded in draws against completed work. That is a rehab-budget figure, not a purchase loan-to-value.
- There is no true 100% purchase program, and all of these figures vary by lender, property, and experience.
What Do LTV, LTC, and ARV Actually Mean?
Hard money lenders use three ratios, and mixing them up is how flippers talk themselves into loans that don’t exist. Each answers a different question, so the definitions come first.
What this loan actually costs to carry.
Hard money is sized against the project and priced by time. Enter the deal and see how much the program will lend, the cash required at closing, the carry while you hold it, and what is left at the exit.
Leverage tiers on the current program: 85% with fewer than 2, 90% with 2 or more, 93% with 5 or more completed projects — every tier capped at 75% of after-repair value. Loan amounts up to $5,000,000, larger by exception; terms of 6 to 18 months, interest-only, no prepayment penalty. The rehab portion funds in draws against completed work, not at closing.
Program parameters shown update from Lendmire’s centralized guideline source. Rate, points, and months are editable assumptions, not quoted terms.
Cost cap sets the loan · positive spread
Illustrative estimate only — not a quote, Loan Estimate, approval, or commitment to lend. Rate, points, and months are editable assumptions. Hard money is business-purpose financing for real estate investors, not a consumer mortgage. Leverage on the current program tops out at 93% of project cost for investors with a documented track record, capped at 75% of after-repair value, with rehab funding up to 100% of the documented budget released in draws; actual terms vary by lender, borrower experience, property, and exit. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender.
Key Terms Defined
- Hard money loan: a short-term, interest-only business loan secured by the property and sized on the deal rather than your personal income.
- LTV (loan-to-value): the loan amount divided by what the property is worth. It can be measured on today’s value or on a projected value.
- LTC (loan-to-cost): the loan amount divided by your total project cost, meaning purchase price plus rehab budget.
- ARV (after-repair value): what the property should appraise for once the renovation is finished.
- Draw: a release of held-back rehab money after the lender confirms that work is done.
- Cross-collateralization: pledging a second property you own as extra security for the same loan.
- Gap or second-position loan: a separate loan stacked behind the first one to cover part of what the first lender won’t fund.
- Seasoning: the waiting period a lender wants after a purchase before it will refinance the property.
Which Limit Actually Stops You?
The ARV cap is usually the one that binds. A flip loan has two tests, and the lender takes whichever produces the smaller loan.
Test one is a percentage of your total project cost, meaning purchase price plus rehab budget. Test two is a percentage of ARV. A high cost-based tier looks generous on the rate sheet, but it only applies if the total fits under the ARV ceiling.
Nav, a business-finance education site, explains that 100% financing means 100% of cost, not 100% LTV, and that high-leverage lenders commonly cap the total loan at 70-75% of ARV. In Lendmire’s network, the ARV cap is 75%, so a flip that needs more than that has to find the difference elsewhere.
Here is a modeled example, built entirely in percentages of ARV. Say you buy at 60% of ARV and budget rehab at 25% of ARV. Your total project cost is 85% of ARV.
At the 90% tier, the cost-based test funds 90% of project cost, which is 76.5% of ARV. That is above the 75% cap, so the cap wins. The loan stops at 75% of ARV, and you fund the remaining 10% of ARV in project cost yourself, plus points, closing costs, and reserves.
Now change the deal. Buy at 55% of ARV with a rehab budget of 15% of ARV, so total cost is 70% of ARV. At the 85% tier, the cost-based test lands near 60% of ARV, well under the cap. Here the cost percentage binds, not the ARV cap, and your cash in is the other 15% of project cost, roughly 10.5% of ARV.
The lesson is that a flipper can’t read the headline percentage and assume it applies. You have to run both tests, and the cheaper the deal is relative to ARV, the more of the project the loan can fund.
Two Meanings of “Borrow More”
People asking this question usually mean one of two different things, and the answers differ.
The first meaning is getting a bigger loan from the same lender. That means changing something about the deal or about you: a lower purchase price relative to ARV, a stronger experience tier, or a better-supported ARV.
The second meaning is adding money from a different source on top of the first loan. That means a second lien, extra collateral, a partner, or private capital.
The first path changes the number on the term sheet. The second path leaves the term sheet alone and fills the gap around it. Mixing them up leads flippers to chase a “higher limit” that doesn’t exist when what they really need is a different layer of capital.
Ways to Borrow More, Ranked by Realism
Here is how the options compare. The ratings reflect what we see across deal flow, not a promise that any option is open to you.
| Method | What it changes | Main risk | How common |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move up an experience tier | Cost-based percentage | Needs documented completed projects | Common |
| Lower purchase relative to ARV | Fits under the ARV cap | Harder to find deals | Common |
| Better-supported ARV | Raises the base the cap applies to | Appraiser may still disagree | Common |
| Cross-collateral | Cuts or removes the gap | Second property at risk | Occasional |
| Gap or second-position loan | Funds more of cost | Higher blended cost, lender consent | Occasional |
| Partner with a track record | Lifts the tier or adds cash | Shared profit and control | Occasional |
Experience Is the Cleanest Lever
Hard money is asset-based, but experience still moves the leverage tier. In Lendmire’s network, the progression runs from 85% of project cost with fewer than 2 completed projects, to 90% at 2 or more, to 93% at 5 or more. The top tier is reserved for experienced investors with documented completions.
The ARV cap stays at 75% through every tier, so more experience raises how much of your cost is funded, not how high the ceiling sits. Lendmire’s piece Should a Flipper With Five or More Exits Bundle Hard Money Into DSCR? covers what changes at the top of that ladder.
First-time investors qualify at the lower tiers. The credit floor on the program is 620, with additional conditions below 660, and underwriting still looks at the property, the plan, and the exit.
Can a Better ARV Raise the Loan?
A stronger ARV can raise the dollar amount of the cap, but it doesn’t change the percentage. The ARV usually comes from an appraisal or broker opinion, supported by comparable sales and a scope of work.
A detailed scope, clean comps, and photos of similar finished homes give the appraiser something to work with. They do not give you license to inflate the number. An ARV the appraiser can’t support just leaves you with a smaller loan and a bigger gap, and an inflated budget or value can create default consequences on the loan documents.
Cross-Collateral: Real Option, Real Risk
Cross-collateralization means pledging equity in another property you own to cover what the loan won’t. ListWithClever describes how this can reduce or remove the cash down payment, because the second property backs the gap above the cap.
The tradeoff is simple. If the flip stalls and the loan goes bad, the lender can look to both properties. That turns a deal-level loss into a loss on something you may have owned for years.
Cross-collateral also doesn’t mean $0 out of pocket. Points, closing costs, and reserves still come from you, along with any gap that the pledged equity doesn’t cover.
Gap Loans and Second Liens
A gap or second-position loan sits behind the first loan and funds more of the project cost. It can close the distance between what the first lender provides and what the deal needs.
Three things make it harder than it sounds. First, the first lender usually has to consent to a junior lien, and many won’t, so ask before you build the plan around one. Second, the combined debt is still tested against the same value, so stacking loans can leave a cash gap rather than eliminate it. Third, the blended cost of two layers of capital is higher than either alone, which cuts into a flip’s margin.
If the exit stalls, you now owe two lenders instead of one. Lendmire doesn’t broker second-position gap loans on this program, so treat this as a structure to evaluate carefully, not a default.
What About the Rehab Budget?
Rehab money is held back and released in draws. You typically front early costs and get reimbursed after the work passes inspection.
In Lendmire’s network, up to 100% of the rehab budget funds in draws against completed work. That is the one place a hard money loan can reach 100% of anything, and it is a budget figure, not a purchase LTV. It also still sits under the total-loan limits above, so the ARV cap can trim it.
An overrun is the scenario that catches first-timers. The loan is sized on the budget you submitted, so extra costs come out of your pocket unless you structured reserves for them. A conservative plan keeps a cushion beyond the lender’s budget, and it assumes the budget is a floor, not a forecast.
Other Loan Types Size Differently
Not every hard money loan is a rehab loan, and the numbers change with the product.
- Bridge purchase without rehab: up to 80% of purchase price in Lendmire’s network.
- Cash-out and rate/term refinance: up to 65% of value.
- Ground-up construction: up to 90% of cost and 75% of completed value at 3 or more completed projects.
Loan amounts run up to $5,000,000, larger by exception, and terms are 6-18 months, interest-only, with no prepayment penalty. Collateral is non-owner-occupied residential property of 1-4 units, with ground-up construction up to 10 units. Every figure varies by lender, property, and experience, and none is a commitment to lend.
The Exit Has Its Own Ceiling
This is the part flippers underestimate. If you plan to keep the property as a rental, you have to clear two ceilings in a row: the hard money ARV cap, then the refinance cap on appraised value.
Many investors refinance out of hard money into long-term DSCR investor loans once the property is stabilized, and Lendmire brokers that path. On a standard rental, cash-out refinances top out around 75% of value across most of the network, with about 6 months of seasoning as the common expectation. On short-term-rental collateral, the cash-out ceiling is 70%.
Run a modeled stress test. Say the hard money loan was sized at 75% of ARV, and the exit appraisal comes in 5% below your ARV. A 75% cash-out on that lower value leaves a shortfall of roughly 3.75% of your original ARV, and that cash has to come from you at payoff. Every figure here varies by lender and program, and guidelines, property type, leverage, and credit profile all apply.
The lender also reviews rental coverage, not just value. DSCR compares the property’s rent to its full monthly obligation (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and any HOA dues). On many programs 1.00 is where eligibility starts, and a separate select-lender path takes coverage below 1.00 with leverage and terms adjusted.
Clearing 1.00 doesn’t mean the property cash flows. Repairs, vacancy, management, utilities, and capex sit outside the calculation.
The complete DSCR loans guide covers the refinance programs themselves.
What Costs More Than It Looks
Extra leverage is not free. Before you add a layer of capital, run a break-even check: does the additional profit from doing the deal with less of your own cash exceed the extra points, interest, profit share, and risk?
Stacked debt raises carry cost, and cross-collateral raises risk. Both can eat a thin flip margin faster than they help it. A deal that only works with maximum leverage and a perfect appraisal has no cushion.
What Not to Do
Don’t inflate the budget or the ARV to unlock a bigger loan. Don’t take secondary financing that your first lender doesn’t know about, since the loan documents typically restrict it. And don’t size a deal around the best-case appraisal.
The cleaner approach is to work backward from a conservative ARV and the lowest tier you realistically qualify for. If the deal still works at that tier, the extra leverage is a bonus rather than a requirement.
Match Your Shortfall to the Tool
Start by naming exactly what you’re short on.
- Short on the purchase down payment: look at a lower purchase price relative to ARV, a higher experience tier, or a partner with a track record.
- Short on closing costs and points: budget them separately, since they sit outside the loan percentages.
- Short on rehab money: confirm the draw schedule and keep a reserve for overruns.
- Short on the exit: test your ARV at a lower value and see whether the refinance still pays off the loan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a flipper get 100% financing?
Not on the purchase. Lendmire’s network has no true 100% purchase program. What exists is up to 100% of the rehab budget in draws, plus up to 93% of project cost at the top tier, capped at 75% of ARV. Both vary by lender, property, and experience.
Can ARV alone size the loan?
No. The lender tests cost-based leverage and the ARV ceiling and takes the lower result. A higher ARV can lift the cap amount, but the percentage doesn’t change.
Does more experience raise the ARV cap?
No. Experience raises the share of project cost the loan funds, from 85% to 90% to 93% in this network, but the 75% ARV cap holds at every tier.
Will my lender allow a second loan on top?
Often it depends on the first lender’s consent and its loan documents. Ask before you structure the deal around one. Combined debt is still tested against the same value, so a second loan may leave you with a cash gap anyway.
What happens if the appraisal comes in low at exit?
You may owe cash at payoff. A low appraisal shrinks the refinance, so the new loan may not cover the hard money balance. That is why a deal should still work if ARV lands below plan.
If you are buying, rehabbing or refinancing an investment property on a short timeline and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare hard money options based on the project, the exit plan, leverage, and your goals. As a broker, it arranges these loans through select lenders in its wholesale network across 41 markets, including Washington, D.C., and nothing here is a commitment to lend.
For current hard money leverage tiers and terms, see Lendmire’s hard money draw schedule rules page.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s DSCR loan programs page.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a DSCR-focused mortgage broker that helps arrange investor financing across 41 markets, including Washington, D.C., through wholesale and investor-lending channels. DSCR eligibility is generally reviewed by the lender around the property’s rental income rather than personal income documentation, subject to lender guidelines, which works for self-employed investors, LLC operators, and portfolios above four financed properties. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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Informational only. Not a Loan Estimate, approval, or commitment to lend. Program availability and eligibility are subject to lender guidelines, credit approval, property review, and underwriting.
References
1. Nav: Hard money 100% financing
2. ListWithClever: No money down hard money
This article is part of Lendmire’s hard money loan program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Does Hard Money Show on Your Credit Report? · Should an Investor Choose a Hard Money Loan or a Flip Loan? · Should You Use a Hard Money Lender for a Single Family Investment Home?
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Important disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage brokerage. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or financial advisor. All loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not constitute a commitment to lend. Rates, terms, and program guidelines are subject to change without notice and vary by borrower profile, property type, and state. Information in this article is general in nature and is not financial, legal, or tax advice. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.