What is a hard money loan?

A 'hard money' loan, also known as a 'private money' loan, 'equity-based' loan, or 'asset- based' loan is based primarily on real estate collateral.

Private lenders fund the loans rather than institutions such as banks. Since the collateral is sufficient to recover the original investment if the borrower defaults, other borrower qualifications are minimized.

Credit history and credit scores are not as important.

Borrower income is still a factor in many situations, but not as important as conventional lending.