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What to do about "Hard Money"

By Lance Pederson

Mortgage and Lending with Fairway America, LLC

August 17, 2010 11:45 AM

Isn't it funny how some things get their name?

Like a cupboard for example. If you were from the planet Mars and happened to study English as a second language and had the opportunity to do an immersion study on planet Earth you'd probably be shocked that a cupboard isn't a cup board but rather a cabinet that you store all sorts of things in.

Hard money is kind of like that too. What is hard money and what does it mean to be a hard money lender that offers hard money loans? It just sounds bad, doesn't it?

Here's my dilemma. I work for a hard money lender and it's my job to figure out how to generate more leads for commercial hard money loans. The only problem is that some of my co-workers don't like the term hard money and want me to remove all references to hard money from the website.

The problem is that when a prospective borrower is unable to qualify for conventional financing through a bank or life company they turn to one of their trusted advisers that tells them that they need a....a.....a....oh yeah, say it with me...A HARD MONEY LOAN!

The last time I checked most people don't have their local hard money lender on speed dial along with 9-1-1, your doctor, your mom, and your kids so they turn to Google and type in - "hard money lenders" or "hard money loan" or "spokane hard money loans" or something like that.

What can I say, I'm at a loss. I didn't invent the term. Of course, it's frustrating when your native tongue - English - happens to be the largest language in the world with somewhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000 words and we don't have terms for varying degrees of terms for non-conforming loans or lenders.

With all that said, what do you think? Give me some ideas on some new terms we can create like - soft money (I'm kidding).

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Jason Montoya

Synergy One Lending - San Diego, CA

Modern Mortgage Lending

I think if someone is in a situation where they are looking for a hard money lender they know it and thus wont be scared away by that word.

I was recently talking to a colleague about "branding" and how it's important to not change your brand once it has been established. "Hard Money" is a type of brand. That's what someone is going to search for when they know they cant qualify for conventional or government financing. Your best off educating your co-workers rather than trying to "re-brand"

Aug 17, 2010 11:51 AM

Ellen Dittman

Watson Realty Corp. - Middleburg, FL

#1 Stop for NE FLA-JAX/OP 904.535.1199 (TEXT OK) r

I had a customer ask me if I knew a Hard Money lender today. Wants to do the necessary repairs to get the most for his home. If you can refer me to someone I will pass the contact info on.

Aug 17, 2010 11:57 AM

Lance Pederson

Fairway America, LLC - Portland, OR

@Jason Amen! Well said. Thanks for the feedback!

@Ellen Unfortunately I'm not real familiar with any hard money lenders down in Florida.

Aug 17, 2010 12:08 PM

Anonymous

Philip Stevens

Its a nice effort but I will agree with Jason that the person who needs this loan, they will get it. We also have another term called "Private Money loans or lenders". You can try the services of Dohardmoney as well.

Aug 18, 2010 12:22 AM

Thanks for everyone's feedback!

I was able to share it with our team last night and it really helped everyone get over the hump about positioning ourselves as a hard money lender.

The reality of it is that we are a hard money lender. We just aren't the "lender of last resort" or the "loan-to-own" type.

Aug 20, 2010 11:07 AM

Diamond

If you need Hard Money for you Real Estate Transactions call Diamond @ 734-956-2269 she has lenders in all 50 States.

Sep 16, 2010 05:44 AM

Trent Dalrymple (248) 854-0625

Home State Bank - Bloomfield Hills, MI

Allowing Mortgage Professionals to Lend Nationwide

Most nationwide Hard Money lenders have taken the state of Michigan off their map. We are a Michigan licensed lender and we only lend "Private Money" or "Hard Money" on investment houses in the metro Detroit area. If you don't lend in our state tell them to go to our web site at www.HardMoneyMi.com or have them call me, at (877) 854-0602.

Sep 16, 2010 12:15 PM

Leann

You said you don't know many lenders in Florida, but what about Spokane WA area? I've been looking for a hard money lender this afternoon and I feel like I don't have the right resources. It is very hard to find them. If you have any advice as to where I can find hard money lenders, (better than search google, cause that hasn't been working for me) I would really appreciate it! We're trying to get into a deal and the time is really ticking on it, so we need some money fast. Thanks.

Nov 22, 2010 08:10 AM

Leann,

We are a hard money lender that lends in Spokane, WA.

Feel free to contact our Loan Officer, Kellen Stevens at 800.454.0564.

If we can't help you out we can probably point you to someone who can.

EVP, Marketing and IT

Fairway America, LLC

Nov 22, 2010 10:06 AM

Gary Pupurs

Hard Money Lender • All Credit Considered Mortgage, Inc. - Rockville, MD

I'm also a hard money lender (primarily metro DC), and I've found that those "in the industry" (either as service professionals or creative investors) are aware of and familiar with the term "hard money", and that's the best term to use for that audience.

On the other hand, a substantial portion of traditional investors who only use cash and traditional mortgages don't even realize we exist as a financing option. It doesn't make sense to try to explain or define "Hard money". But their typically large cash reserves make them great clients (and we can seriously accelerate their investing by providing the leverage to do more deals with less capital). For that crowd, I use terms like "direct private lender", "private investment funding", "rehab lending", "purchase/rehab loans" and so forth...

Particularly savvy investors will point out the distinction between "private money" and "hard money", but for most clients, they're interchangeable terms.

"Creative non-prime financing for investors" is also an accurate and descriptive phrase, but "non-prime" is so tainted after the meltdown, you may want to avoid that word...

-g

Nov 25, 2010 03:41 PM

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Lance Pederson

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