What credit score do you need for a hard money loan?

Most private lenders will work from the low 600s, and some lower with a strong deal. Credit rarely decides approval on its own. It moves your rate. My own range runs 9% to 15% depending on credit and experience.

Do hard money lenders check income or tax returns?

No. Hard money is underwritten against the property and the exit, not your debt to income ratio. That is the main reason self employed investors use it. You will still need to show you can cover the monthly carry.

How much money do you need down for a hard money loan?

Expect to bring 10% to 25% of the purchase price, plus closing costs. Purchase and rehab are commonly financed together, with rehab released in draws as the work is completed and inspected.

How fast can a hard money loan close?

A clean file with title already open closes in about 5 to 14 days. The delay is almost never the lender. It is title, payoffs, and the appraisal or valuation.

BlogGuide

Hard money loan requirements: what a lender actually checks

Hard money is underwritten on the property and the exit, not your tax returns. Here is the full list of what gets checked, and what does not.

July 8, 2026 · 4 min read

Most first time borrowers prepare for the wrong meeting. They gather pay stubs and two years of returns, then find out none of it is being read.

Hard money is asset based lending. The question is not whether you personally look creditworthy on paper. The question is whether the property secures the loan, and whether there is a credible way the loan gets paid off. Everything on the list below exists to answer one of those two questions.

The five things that actually get checked

1. The deal itself

This is most of the decision. A lender is looking at purchase price, rehab budget, and after repair value, then asking whether there is enough equity between the loan and the finished value to absorb a mistake.

The usual measure is loan to value against the after repair value. Somewhere around 65% to 75% of ARV is common, and a deal that needs more than that is being asked to work with no margin for error. If your ARV is soft, the whole file is soft, which is why calculating ARV honestly matters more than any other number you will produce.

2. The exit

Every bridge loan is temporary. The lender wants to know what replaces it.

There are only three real answers. You sell the property. You refinance into long term debt. You pay it off from another source. "I will figure it out" is not an exit, and a file without one gets priced as though it will go the full term and then some.

If the exit is a refinance, expect questions about whether the property will actually appraise and whether you will qualify for the takeout loan. A DSCR refinance is the common answer for rentals.

3. Your money in the deal

Lenders are not looking for a partner who has nothing at risk. Expect to bring 10% to 25% of the purchase price plus closing costs.

Purchase and rehab are usually financed together, but rehab is released in draws against completed work rather than handed over at closing. That surprises people. Budget for funding the first phase of construction yourself and being reimbursed.

4. Liquidity for the carry

Interest, taxes, and insurance run every month whether the project is on schedule or not. A lender wants to see reserves that cover the carry for the expected hold plus a cushion.

This is where most otherwise good files get hesitant. The borrower budgeted the rehab exactly and left nothing for the four months of interest that follow a contractor walking off.

5. Experience, and honesty about it

Prior projects help. They lower the rate and they widen how much rehab a lender will finance.

No experience is not disqualifying. Hiding it is. A first project priced honestly as a first project is a normal loan. A first project described as your fifth is a problem discovered at the worst possible moment.

What does not get checked

Tax returns. Not requested, not read.
Debt to income ratio. Not the basis of the decision.
Employment history. You can be self employed, between jobs, or full time investing.
Seasoning of your down payment. Where the money came from matters far less than that it is there.

This is the entire reason the product exists. Conventional lending underwrites a borrower's income stability over thirty years. That is the wrong instrument for buying a house in nine days and selling it in five months.

Where credit actually matters

Credit is a pricing input, not usually a gate.

A 760 and a 620 can both get funded on the same property. They will not get the same rate. My own terms run 9% to 15% depending on credit and experience, and where you land inside that band is largely this.

The exception is derogatory items that suggest the exit is at risk: an open bankruptcy, an active foreclosure, unresolved judgments or liens that will attach to title. Those are underwriting problems rather than pricing ones, because they threaten the payoff itself.

What to have ready before you call

Having these on hand is the difference between terms in a day and terms in a week.

The address and the executed purchase contract
Your rehab budget, itemised by scope rather than a single number
Your ARV basis: three comparable sales, ideally same street or subdivision
Your exit, stated plainly, with a timeline
Proof of funds for the down payment and reserves
Prior projects if you have them, with addresses

The timeline

For a clean file, terms inside 24 to 48 hours and closing in 5 to 14 days is a normal pace. I work that way, and it is achievable specifically because the list above is short.

When a hard money closing runs long, the cause is almost never underwriting. It is title work, an unexpected lien, a payoff letter nobody chased, or a valuation that came back under. Open title early. It is the single most useful thing a borrower can do to protect a closing date.

Before you apply

Run the deal first. If the numbers do not clear once points, interest over the hold, closing on both sides, and selling costs are charged against it, no lender approval fixes that. The deal calculators will show you where your own file lands, and the detailed tools will price the carry that first timers usually forget.

When it does clear, send it over. You get written terms inside 24 to 48 hours and a straight answer either way.

Common questions

What credit score do you need for a hard money loan?: Most private lenders will work from the low 600s, and some lower with a strong deal. Credit rarely decides approval on its own. It moves your rate. My own range runs 9% to 15% depending on credit and experience.
Do hard money lenders check income or tax returns?: No. Hard money is underwritten against the property and the exit, not your debt to income ratio. That is the main reason self employed investors use it. You will still need to show you can cover the monthly carry.
How much money do you need down for a hard money loan?: Expect to bring 10% to 25% of the purchase price, plus closing costs. Purchase and rehab are commonly financed together, with rehab released in draws as the work is completed and inspected.
How fast can a hard money loan close?: A clean file with title already open closes in about 5 to 14 days. The delay is almost never the lender. It is title, payoffs, and the appraisal or valuation.

Have a deal like this

Run your numbers.

The calculators charge the costs this piece describes: points, interest over the hold, closing on both sides, carry, and the cost to sell. It takes about a minute.

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