Texas hard money loans for real estate investors
Four short term programs on Texas property, funded from our own capital. Buy and renovate, build from the ground up, bridge to the next thing, or hold the rental without showing a tax return. The decision is ours, so the terms do not move before closing. Outside Texas we place the deal rather than funding it.
What hard money actually is
Hard money (also called private money, bridge debt or asset based lending) is short term real estate debt underwritten primarily on the property rather than on your tax returns. Three questions decide it: what is the asset worth today, what will it be worth when the plan is executed, and how does the loan get paid off?
What you buy with the higher rate is flexibility. A conventional lender wants a stabilized building and a borrower who documents income the way Fannie Mae likes. An investor buying a vacant, half gutted house at a sixty percent basis has neither. That is the whole market.
Do not hold hard money longer than the plan requires. It is expensive by design. Every deal we write is underwritten to a specific exit (sale, DSCR refinance, bank debt or agency debt), because a bridge loan without a landing is a problem with a maturity date.
What the capital source means for your deal
Most private lenders sell your loan the week it closes, so the credit box is not really theirs. Our money comes from the Matador Note Fund, built to hold this paper. Three things follow from that.
You can get an exception. A deal that sits just outside a box is an automatic decline at a correspondent. Here it is a conversation with the person who owns the risk.
Your terms do not move. Nothing gets repriced between the term sheet and the closing table because a buyer changed their appetite. We are the buyer.
Your exit is already handled. When the project finishes, the same team refinances you into whatever the asset supports: a DSCR loan, bank debt or agency debt. That side of the business works in all 50 states.
“Underwrite the exit first. Everything else is arithmetic.”
How the direct desk is runWhen hard money is the wrong answer
- The property is stabilized and leased and you plan to hold it. A DSCR, bank or agency loan is cheaper.
- You have time and no competition. Shop it, and we will shop it for you.
- You need the rate to make the deal work. If a project only pencils at bank pricing, it does not pencil.
- There is no exit you can describe in one sentence.
- The property is outside Texas. We place those rather than fund them.
If any of those is you, our capital markets desk is a better first call.
Size the deal yourself
Put in the purchase price, the budget and the after repair value. The calculator runs the same caps our underwriters do, returns the loan we could write, and tells you which constraint is binding.
- Fix and flip, ground up construction, bridge and DSCR rental
- Names the binding cap, so you know whether cash or value is the problem
- Adjusts leverage for a first project the way we actually would
A Houston flip
| Purchase | $120,000 |
|---|---|
| Rehab budget | $110,000 |
| After repair value | $335,000 |
| 90% of purchase plus rehab | $218,000 |
| 75% of the ARV | $251,250 |
| Indicative loan | $218,000 |
| Cash into the deal | $12,000 |
Cost bound. Illustrative, not an offer.
Four programs, published terms
This is the real box, not a teaser. Maximum leverage assumes an experienced sponsor, a credible budget and a Texas market we understand.
| Program | Loan size | Max leverage | Term | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fix & flip / rehab | $100K to $3MM | 90% purchase 100% rehab 75% ARV | 12 to 18 mo | Buy, renovate, sell or refinance |
| Ground up construction | $250K to $5MM | 85% LTC 70% of completed value | 12 to 24 mo | Infill builds, townhomes, build to rent |
| Bridge & stabilized | $150K to $5MM | 75% LTV purchase 70% cash out | 12 to 24 mo | Speed, seasoning, maturing debt, equity release |
| DSCR rental, 30 yr | $100K to $3MM | 80% LTV purchase 75% cash out | 30 yr | The permanent exit on a finished project |
Ranges above are illustrative of well structured transactions and are not an offer or a commitment to lend. Actual leverage, pricing and term depend on the property, market, sponsor, budget and exit, and are set only in a written term sheet. Business purpose loans only.
Texas, statewide
- Houston and the greater Gulf Coast
- Dallas to Fort Worth and North Texas
- Austin and the Hill Country
- San Antonio and South Texas
- Secondary Texas markets with comparable sales support
- Rural and tertiary Texas, at adjusted leverage
Outside Texas we broker it instead, see capital markets.
What we lend on
- Single family, 1 to 4 unit residential
- Townhomes and warrantable condos
- Multifamily to roughly 20 units
- Small mixed use with residential above
- Infill lots and teardown sites
- Select small commercial, case by case
Who qualifies
- Mid credit score around 660+ for best leverage
- Liquidity for down payment, costs and contingency
- Experience priced, not required, first timers welcome at lower leverage
- US citizens, permanent residents and foreign nationals (adjusted terms)
- Closed in an LLC, LP or corporation with a personal guarantee
What we cannot do
- Any property you or your family occupy as a residence
- Any loan for personal, family or household purposes
- Open bankruptcy or an active foreclosure on the subject
- Undisclosed liens, judgments or title defects
- Property outside Texas (we broker those instead)
- Properties with no comparable sales support
What it costs, itemized
| Line item | Typical | When you pay it |
|---|---|---|
| Origination | Points on the loan amount, set by leverage, term and experience | At closing, from proceeds |
| Interest | Monthly, interest only, on funds actually drawn | Monthly |
| Administrative fee | $1,595 | At closing |
| Valuation | Appraisal, BPO or desktop, depending on the asset and program | Paid to the vendor, before closing |
| Title, escrow, recording | Market rate in your county | At closing |
| Insurance | Builder’s risk or landlord policy with lender as mortgagee | Before funding |
| Draw inspections | Per inspection on rehab and construction files | As drawn |
| Application fee | None | Not charged |
| Upfront diligence deposit | None | Not charged |
Every number that applies to your transaction is itemized on the term sheet before you spend anything. Third-party costs are paid to the vendors, not to Matador, and the reports are yours.
From submission to wire
Deal profile
Address, numbers, budget, exit, sponsor. Ten minutes on the form or a phone call, whichever you prefer.
Term sheet
Leverage, pricing, term, fees and conditions in writing. You sign it, or you do not. There is no cost either way.
Valuation and title ordered
Title and insurance run in parallel while you finish entity and background items.
Underwriting and conditions
Budget review, comps, sponsor verification, background and track record. Conditions come in one list, not a drip.
Docs and funding
Loan documents to title, signing, wire. Rehab and construction holdbacks are set up at funding.
Draws and the exit
Draw requests are reimbursed against completed work, and the refinance conversation starts before the project finishes.
Every deal gets a real answer
Tell us the property, the plan and the number you need. A credit officer reads it and tells you what it will support.
- Texas hard money. A term sheet from the people who fund the loan.
- Commercial, all 50 states. Quotes from the desks that cover your asset.
- Outside the box? A straight reason, and usually a name that does fund it.