The Quick Read: A single-family hard money bridge file needs documents that prove three things: you have the cash for the down payment, the cash is yours and can be verified, and the money sits in the right name where the title company can receive it. The lender sizes the loan from the property and your plan, then checks that you can cover the rest. Asset-based does not mean paperwork-free.
- The down payment is whatever the leverage cap leaves uncovered, so it moves with the deal.
- The core package: purchase contract, entity papers, ID, recent bank or asset statements, insurance, and a budget if there is rehab.
- Large or unexplained deposits need a short written explanation and a paper trail.
- Closing costs, reserves, and carry sit on top of the down payment.
- Parameters vary by lender, property, and experience, and nothing here is a commitment to lend.
How the Down Payment Gets Decided
The down payment is an output, not an input. The lender sets the maximum loan from the property’s value or the project’s cost, and you fund the difference.
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.
Across the wholesale network Lendmire works with, the structures look like this. A bridge purchase with no rehab goes up to 80% of the purchase price. Fix-and-flip leverage is measured against project cost: up to 93% of project cost at 5+ completed projects, 90% at 2+, and 85% with fewer than 2. Every tier is capped at 75% of after-repair value (ARV, the property’s estimated worth once the work is done). Cash-out and rate-and-term refinances go up to 65% of value. All of this varies by lender, property, and experience.
Is there a 100% purchase program? No. Some marketing language suggests it, but even the cost-based structures leave you with a slice of the purchase, plus closing costs. The top leverage tier is reserved for experienced investors.
Hard money and bridge loans overlap heavily in practice. “Hard money” describes the type of lender. “Bridge” describes the job: short-term money that carries you from purchase to a sale or a longer-term loan. Terms here usually run 6 to 18 months, interest-only, on non-owner-occupied 1-4 unit residential property. A single-family home is the simplest version.
What Lenders Actually Review
Underwriting is asset-based, which means the property, the plan, and the exit carry most of the weight. But the lender still looks at you. Practitioner discussion on BiggerPockets lists the same review areas brokers see every day: down payment assets and liquidity, property value and ARV, the rehab plan, experience, credit, and the exit strategy.
Credit still matters. A 620 score is the minimum in this program, with extra conditions below 660. First-time investors qualify at the lower leverage tiers, which means a bigger down payment.
The Core Document Package
Here is the package, with what each piece proves and where files go sideways. Think of each item as an answer to a question the lender is silently asking.
| Document | What it proves | Common mistake | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase contract | Price, buyer, terms | Wrong buyer name | Match the entity |
| Entity papers | Who owns and signs | Missing operating agreement | Send the full set |
| Government ID | Identity of signers | Expired ID | Check dates first |
| Bank statements | Cash exists and is yours | Missing pages | Send every page |
| Scope and budget | Rehab plan is real | Round-number budget | Line-item it |
| Insurance | Property is protected | Quote only | Ask for a binder |
| Exit plan | Repayment path | Vague plan | Name sale or refinance |
Two of these deserve a closer look.
Statements. Send complete, unredacted pages with your name, the account owner, the dates, and a clear balance. A cropped screenshot invites a resubmission request. Statements should be recent, though how recent depends on the lender.
The contract. The buyer named on the contract should match the borrower on the loan. If an LLC is buying, the LLC goes on the contract, subject to lender program eligibility. A contract signed in your personal name with a loan to an entity creates a mismatch somebody has to fix.
Where Your Cash Came From Matters
The lender does not only want to see a balance. It wants to understand how the balance got there. Each source of cash has its own paper trail.
| Source of cash | Paper trail to submit |
|---|---|
| Personal savings | Statements showing the balance over time |
| Retirement account | Statement plus proof you can access the funds |
| Sale of a property | Settlement statement and the deposit record |
| Gift | Gift letter and the donor’s transfer record |
| Partner capital | Partner agreement and transfer record |
| Entity account | Entity statements and ownership proof |
Policy differs from lender to lender. Some programs treat funds in a retirement account as acceptable only once you have shown they are liquid. Some want a gift letter signed by the donor. A few will want the partner formally added to the deal. Ask before you gather, not after.
Large Deposits and the Source-of-Funds Explanation
Seasoning is how long money has sat in an account before you use it. Hard money lenders are often looser on seasoning than conventional lenders. Some accept any account in your name, with no minimum holding period. Others look at the last couple of statements. That is lender-specific, and it is worth knowing before you move money around.
Do not assume looseness at the front end covers you later. If you plan to refinance out of the bridge into long-term rental financing, the next lender may run its own sourcing review. Clean records now make that review easy.
A large deposit that does not match your income pattern draws questions. Answer them before they are asked. A good explanation letter is short and has four parts:
1. What the deposit was and its approximate amount.
2. Where it came from, with the document that proves it.
3. The date it landed and which account received it.
4. A signature and the date you wrote it.
Skip the story. Attach the proof. A letter with no attachment just creates another question.
Beyond the Down Payment: The Cash Nobody Mentions
The down payment is only the first bucket. The real cash need includes closing costs, reserves, and carry. Closing costs and escrows generally come out of your pocket, not out of the loan. Some lenders also want to see reserves, meaning cash left over after closing. The amount varies by lender, leverage, and experience.
Rehab money is a separate bucket entirely. On fix-and-flip deals, up to 100% of the rehab budget funds in draws against completed work. That is a rehab-budget figure, not purchase leverage. Draws reimburse work that is done. You still carry the work in between, and cost overruns need their own paperwork, such as receipts and change orders.
Here is the mistake to avoid: showing one balance and counting it three times. One statement cannot be your down payment, your reserves, and your rehab float all at once. Show each bucket separately, or show a balance large enough to clear all three.
Edge Cases: Where the General Rule Breaks
Borrowed down payment funds. A borrowed down payment gets a cold reception. Hard money lenders want your own capital at risk, so cash from business credit cards or a personal loan typically pushes the lender toward a larger required down payment or a decline. Disclose borrowed funds up front. Do not draw first and explain later.
Partner money. Capital from a partner works when the structure is documented. A partner who is on the entity and on the agreement is easier to verify than a partner who just wired money into your account. The lender will want to know who owns what.
Entity mismatch. Say your funds sit in a personal account and the borrower is an LLC. The lender needs to see a clean line between the two. A transfer into the entity account before you apply, with a statement showing it, is usually cleaner than a story. Seller-side and title-side wiring details also need to match the entity.
Cash offers versus financed offers. Write the offer as financed. A hard money loan is still a loan, and a BiggerPockets discussion on proof of funds makes the same point about pre-approval letters. A lender pre-approval paired with a recent bank statement is the strongest proof-of-funds package for a financed offer.
Business-purpose paperwork. Hard money loans are business-purpose investor loans, so they are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. That is why a purpose-of-loan statement and occupancy paperwork show up in the file. The OCC’s Comptroller’s Handbook on Truth in Lending says a checked box alone, without documentation of the intended use of proceeds, may be insufficient evidence. Compliance Alliance warns that many people wrongly assume the investment label automatically exempts a loan. Fill in the purpose statement honestly and keep it consistent with the rest of the file.
A Worked Example: Two Deals, Two Down Payments
Run the numbers on a fictional investor buying a vacant single-family home with no rehab. The lender’s cap on a bridge purchase without rehab is up to 80% of purchase price. The investor brings at least 20% down, plus closing costs. The document package is the contract, entity papers, ID, statements, and insurance. Final terms depend on lender guidelines, property type, leverage, and the borrower’s complete credit picture.
Now picture a second investor with fewer than 2 completed projects buying a house that needs work. The tier is 85% of project cost, so the starting down payment is 15% of cost. But the tier is capped at 75% of ARV. Say total project cost, purchase plus rehab, is 90% of the ARV. Then 85% of cost equals 76.5% of ARV. The ARV cap binds, and the investor covers the extra gap. The tighter the margin between cost and ARV, the more the cap decides the down payment.
That second investor’s package adds a line-item scope, a budget, and comps supporting the ARV. The budget document is not a formality. It sets the draw schedule and the ARV math.
Assemble the File in This Order
A tidy file makes it easy for the lender to say yes. Work through this checklist before you submit.
1. Names match. The contract, entity, ID, and account holder tell one consistent story.
2. Dates are current. Statements and IDs are recent and unexpired.
3. Pages are complete. Every page is included, even the blank-looking ones.
4. Large deposits are explained. Each one has a letter and an attachment.
5. Buckets are separate. Down payment, closing costs, reserves, and rehab float are each visible.
6. Funds are liquid. Closing money has to reach the title company’s account by wire, so it must sit in a spendable account first.
7. The exit is written down. One paragraph: sell, or refinance, and why.
Skip what you do not need. Hard money is asset-based, so stacks of income paperwork rarely help.
The Exit and the Records That Support It
The bridge is repaid by a sale or a refinance. Many investors refinance out of hard money into long-term DSCR financing once the property is stabilized, and Lendmire brokers that path. DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) compares a property’s rent to its full monthly housing payment. The complete DSCR loans guide explains the long-term side.
Records from the bridge purchase help later. Keep your source-of-funds trail, your spend receipts, and the settlement statement. They support a cost-basis or seasoning review at the refinance. Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified professional.
What the Decision Looks Like in Practice
Honestly, the cleanest files are not the ones with the most cash. They are the ones where the cash story is boring: one account, one name, a few statements, no surprises.
If your money sits in the wrong place, move it early and leave a trail. If part of it is borrowed, tell the lender first. If the deal is tight against the ARV cap, plan on bringing more than the headline percentage suggests. And if you are new, expect the lower leverage tiers and a larger check. That is not a penalty. It is the lender pricing in a track record it has not seen yet.
Key Terms Defined
Proof of funds (POF): A document, usually a bank statement or lender letter, showing you have the cash to close.
Seasoning: The time money has sat in an account before you use it.
Source of funds: The paper trail showing where the money in your account came from.
ARV (after-repair value): The property’s estimated worth once the planned work is finished.
Loan-to-cost: The loan amount divided by total project cost, purchase plus rehab.
Reserves: Cash left in your accounts after closing, which some lenders ask you to hold.
Draw: A payment of rehab funds released after a stage of work is completed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need bank statements for a hard money bridge loan?
Yes, in nearly every case. Lenders want to see that the down payment and closing cash exist and belong to you. Send complete, unredacted statements for every account you are counting. Requirements on how many months to show vary by lender.
Can I use borrowed money for the down payment?
Usually it is a problem. Lenders want your own capital in the deal, and borrowed funds such as business credit cards often lead to a larger required down payment or a decline. Disclose any borrowed funds before you apply. Program rules differ, so ask first.
Can I use retirement funds or a gift?
Often, with documentation. Retirement funds need a statement and proof they are accessible. A gift typically needs a signed gift letter and the donor’s transfer record. Acceptance varies by lender and program.
What if my cash is in a personal account and I am buying through an LLC?
Move the funds into the entity account before you apply, and keep the statement showing the transfer. The contract, entity, and funds should tell one consistent story. Entity eligibility is subject to program terms.
Can I get 100% financing so I put nothing down?
No. There is no true 100% purchase program. Even the highest cost-based tier leaves you with part of the purchase, plus closing costs and carry. Rehab money can fund up to 100% of the rehab budget in draws, but that is a separate bucket from the purchase down payment.
Next Step
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. Lendmire is a broker that arranges financing through select lenders in its wholesale network across 41 markets, including Washington, D.C. Investors can reach out at 828-256-2183 or request a quote.
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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References
1. BiggerPockets – What requirements do I need to get a hard money loan
2. BiggerPockets – Hard money proof of funds
3. OCC Comptroller’s Handbook – Truth in Lending Act
4. Compliance Alliance – Regulation Z and Investment Properties
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 Every Hard Money Lender Ask the Same Minimum Down on a Flip? · Is a Hard Money Fix-and-Flip Loan Worth It on a Single-Family Home? · Can an Investor Hold Two Hard Money Bridge Loans at Once?
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
- Mortgage Loan Originator · NMLS# 1129696 · Verify on NMLS Consumer Access
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- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Disclosure information. Lendmire is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage under NMLS# 2371349. Lendmire is not a depository institution, direct lender, or financial advisor — all loans referenced are placed through wholesale lender partners and are subject to each lender's underwriting standards. This article is provided for general informational purposes and is not a commitment to lend, nor does it constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Loan programs, terms, rates, and qualification standards change without notice and depend on borrower profile, property type, and the state in which the subject property is located. Equal Housing Opportunity provider. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.