Columbus is a very competitive housing market with excellent demographics, economic trends, and rising demand. All of which are contributing to an appreciation in prices. In fact, Columbus was named the #3 hottest housing market for 2024 by Zillow.

Now is the time to start or grow your investing activities in the Columbus real estate market. A real estate investor in Columbus has numerous options for fix and flip loans, but it's important to choose the best hard money lender in the state.

Hard money loans are a type of private money loan that is geared towards purchase and rehab projects and not so much rental property loans. It may be a fix and flip project or a fix and hold (refinance) project, but in either case hard money lending is the perfect match for the borrower who pursues value-add opportunities in the Columbus market. Hard money loans are not exactly inexpensive, but they are very useful to the property investor who knows how to use them and who chooses the right lender partner.

The typical fix and flip loan program for an investment property requires 10-25% down payment on the property purchase price, along with 100% of the rehab amount funded in draws. In other words, the loan amount will be 75-90% LTV on the purchase price plus 100% of the rehab cost. This loan amount will normally be limited to 65-75% of the ARV (After Repair Value of the property) so that a sufficient profit margin is in place for the project. It is quite important that the investor stay motivated to finish the project to capture this profit and pay off the loan, rather than abandoning the project midway. This can cause great economic harm to both the borrower and the hard money lender.

Hard money lenders in Ohio will typically offer the following parameters in their loan programs:

Real estate investors looking for less cash out of pocket to close a fix and flip project in Columbus should look at hard money loan options from a leading Ohio hard money lender. Available is 100% financing on the purchase price, meaning no down payment required. This full financing is even available for investors with no prior rehab experience (although first-timers should generally start with smaller projects).

Here is more information about the required documents to get a fix and flip loan.

Also, check out our Ohio hard money lending page to get more information and to get started today.