The best hard money lender in Tennessee.
There is no single answer, and any lender who tells you otherwise is selling. Here is what actually decides your cost, and where we are the wrong call.
Or call us direct — (615) 989-0020
We wrote this knowing you are comparing us to somebody else. Good.
Search “best hard money lenders” and you get pages written by lenders explaining why they are the best, and directory sites paid by lenders to rank them. We are a lender, so treat this the same way: read it, then go check our answers against the next lender's.
What follows is the part nobody puts in an ad. Five things decide what a hard money loan actually costs you, only one of them is the interest rate, and the difference between a good lender and a bad one usually shows up after you are already under contract.
Five things that decide your real cost.
Ask every lender on your list these, in writing, before you pick one.
1. The fee stack, not the rate
Rate and points are the numbers in the ad. The money leaves on the settlement statement. Origination, processing, underwriting, document review, appraisal, inspection, draw fees, extension fees, payoff and demand fees — each one is small and there are ten of them. A lender quoting a point less and charging four junk fees costs you more. Ask for a sample settlement statement, not a rate sheet.
2. What the percentage is a percentage of
“Up to 90% financing” means nothing until you know 90% of what. Purchase price? After-repair value? Cost? A lender at 65% of ARV and a lender at 80% of purchase are not comparable numbers, and on most flips the ARV-based loan brings more money to the table. Get the basis in writing, and get it before you make an offer.
3. Whose money is it
A broker takes your file and shops it. That adds a fee, a week, and a second underwriter who can say no after the first one said yes. Ask directly: are you lending your own capital, or placing this with someone else? If the answer takes more than one sentence, it is the second one.
4. How the rehab money actually moves
Renovation money released in draws is normal. What varies is who inspects, how long a draw takes, whether there is a fee per draw, and whether the lender will fund a draw on work in progress or only on completion. A cheap loan that strands your crew for two weeks between draws is not cheap.
5. Whether they know your street
A lender underwriting your Chattanooga duplex from an office in another state is reading the same comps you are and guessing at the rest. That guess becomes a third-party appraisal, two more weeks, and sometimes a re-trade at the table. Local valuation is not a nicety on a 30-day close, it is the whole timeline.
The tell to watch for
Terms that get worse between the term sheet and the closing table. It happens when a lender quotes off a value they have not verified, or approves a file they intend to place elsewhere. Ask what would have to be true for these terms to change, and write down the answer.
The cheaper-sounding loan, priced out.
A $250,000 loan held six months. The other lender quotes a point less and a point lower on the rate, and still costs more. This is what the fee stack does.
| Cost | Lender quoting2 points, 11% | Ours3 points, 12% |
|---|---|---|
| Points | $5,000 | $7,500 |
| Interest, six months | $13,750 | $15,000 |
| Origination | $2,500 | None |
| Processing | $995 | None |
| Underwriting | $1,250 | None |
| Document preparation | $750 | $320 |
| Appraisal | $650 | None — valued in house |
| Inspection and draw fees | $600 | None |
| Payoff or demand fee | $350 | None |
| Total cost of the money | $25,845 | $22,820 |
The loan that advertised a lower rate costs $3,025 more. Run the same sheet on every quote you get.
And that is before the project runs long. Most fee-stacked lenders charge a point to extend. Two extra months on this loan adds another $2,500 on their side and nothing but interest on ours. We do not charge an extension fee.
Our column is our whole price list: three points, 12% interest only, a $320 document preparation fee, up to 65% of after-repair value, term sheet usually within a day, funded in about nine days. If a cost is not in that column, we do not charge it. Full detail on the rates and fees page.
About the left column: those are fees commonly charged by hard money lenders, at round midpoint amounts, shown together to make the arithmetic visible. It is not any particular lender's quote, and we have deliberately given that column the better rate and the lower points. Ask whichever lenders you are talking to for their own version of this list, in writing, and fill it in yourself.
When we are the wrong lender.
You plan to live in it. We lend on business-purpose real estate only. If the property is your home, or you are buying it to become your home, we are not the right lender and we will say so on the first call rather than three weeks in.
You want one closing that turns into a mortgage. We fund construction, not the permanent loan after it. If you need a construction-to-permanent loan that closes once and converts, that is a bank product and a bank is the right call. We say more about that on the construction page.
You are buying to hold for years. Hard money is short-term money priced like short-term money. If the plan is to buy a rental and keep it, get a DSCR or conventional investment loan and pay a fraction of this rate. Where we fit is the part a bank will not do — the distressed purchase, the rehab, the closing that has to happen in nine days — and then you refinance into the cheap money once the property qualifies for it.
You need more leverage than the deal supports. We go up to 65% of after-repair value. If you need 85% and no cash in, some lender will quote it and then re-trade you at the table. We would rather lose the deal at the first phone call.
You are buying land on what it could become. We value land at what it can be used for today, not what it would be worth split or entitled. If your number depends on a rezoning that has not happened, our number will disappoint you. That is covered on the land page.
Best hard money lenders in Tennessee, answered.
Who is the best hard money lender in Tennessee?
The one whose terms survive your specific deal. A lender who is excellent on a Nashville flip may decline a manufactured home, a rural lot or a ground-up build outright. Before comparing rates, make a short list of lenders who will actually fund your asset type in your county, then compare the full fee stack, the leverage basis, and how fast they can close. A lender who is cheap on paper and cannot close in your contract window costs you the deal.
What should a hard money loan cost in Tennessee?
Points and interest vary by lender and by deal. What matters more is whether the quote is complete. Ask for every cost through closing and payoff in one written list. If it arrives as a rate and a vague “plus normal closing costs,” ask again. Ours is three points, 12% interest and a $320 document preparation fee, and there is nothing after that.
How do I tell a direct lender from a broker?
Ask whether the money is theirs. A direct lender can answer in one sentence and can tell you what they will lend on the first call, because there is no second party to consult. A broker will describe a network, a panel or lending partners. Brokers are not dishonest, but they add a fee and a week, and the approval you get from them is not final until somebody you have never spoken to agrees.
Do hard money lenders check credit?
Some do, some do not. We lend against the asset, so there is no credit minimum, no tax returns and no employment verification. What we want to know is what you have done before, what the property is worth today, what the scope of work is, and how you plan to exit. If a lender is running your income and your tax returns, you are being underwritten like a bank borrower on a hard money rate.
How fast should a hard money lender be able to close?
Days, not weeks. That is the entire reason the product exists. We issue a term sheet usually within a day and fund in about nine days. If a lender needs a third-party appraisal before they will commit, add two weeks to whatever they tell you, and ask what happens to your earnest money if the appraisal is late.
What fees should I refuse to pay?
Any fee for the lender doing their own job. Underwriting, processing and document review are the lender's cost of being a lender. Appraisal and inspection fees are legitimate when a third party genuinely does the work, which is why we do the valuation ourselves and do not charge for it. Be most suspicious of fees that appear only at closing, and of extension and payoff fees, which are invisible until the moment you have the least leverage.
Are there hard money lenders near me in Tennessee?
We lend across the whole state and value property in house, which is the point of staying in one state. Nashville and Middle Tennessee is where we do the most volume, and we fund in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, Franklin and the counties around them. If your deal is in Tennessee, it is in our area.
Is a pre-approval letter from a hard money lender worth anything?
It is worth what the lender behind it is worth. The point of the letter is the phone number on it: a listing agent calls to confirm you can actually close, and they do make that call. Ask any lender whether they will take that call and answer it directly. Ours is on our letterhead with our number on it.
What we fund in Tennessee.
Compare us against the next one.
Send us the deal and we will tell you what we would lend, usually within a day. Take that number to another lender and make them beat it in writing, fees included. If they do, take their money.
Business-purpose lending only. Not a commitment to lend. Terms are subject to underwriting of the specific property.