Hard Money Loan Calculator

Estimate your monthly interest-only payment, origination points, balloon payment and the true total cost of a hard money loan — instantly, with no sign-up.

1. Enter the property price and the ARV. Type the purchase price, then the after-repair value you expect once the renovation is finished. The calculator uses these two numbers for your loan-to-value (LTV) and loan-to-ARV ratios.
2. Enter the loan amount. Type the amount the private lender will fund. Most hard money lenders fund 65% to 80% of the as-is value, or up to about 75% of ARV on a fix and flip loan.
3. Add the rate, term and points. Enter the annual interest rate from your term sheet, the loan term in months (when the balloon payment comes due), the amortization term in years, and the origination points and other lender fees.
4. Pick a payment type. Choose interest-only for the classic hard money structure, or principal and interest to see an amortizing payment and a smaller balloon.
5. Read the full cost, not just the payment. Check the balloon payment, the total interest, the total cost of borrowing, the cash you need to close, and — on a flip — the estimated net profit, ROI and 70% rule maximum offer before you sign anything.

• It shows the balloon, not just the monthly payment. The balloon payment is the number that ends deals. This calculator puts it in the first screen of results, for both interest-only and amortizing structures.
• It counts points and fees. Two loans at the same rate can cost thousands apart once you add origination points. The total cost of borrowing and the effective APR estimate expose that gap.
• It sizes the loan the way lenders do. LTV, loan-to-cost (LTC) and loan-to-ARV appear on every run, so you see the same leverage ratios a hard money lender checks in underwriting.
• It works as a fix and flip loan calculator. Add a rehab budget, holding costs and selling costs and the tool estimates your net profit, your ROI on cash invested, and your break-even sale price.
• It compares both payment structures side by side. You always see the interest-only payment and the principal-and-interest payment together, plus the total interest each structure costs until the balloon comes due.
• It is free and instant. No sign-up, no email gate, no waiting. Change any input and every result updates immediately.

• House flippers who need to know whether a deal still profits after interest, points, rehab draws and holding costs.
• Bridge loan buyers who must carry a new property before the old one sells, and who need the exact carry cost per month.
• BRRRR and rental investors who buy with short-term money, renovate, then refinance — and who must know the balance and equity on refinance day.
• Commercial property owners who buy or reposition a building that a bank will not finance in its current condition.
• Auction and foreclosure buyers who must close in days and want a cash-like offer backed by real numbers.
• Borrowers a bank turned down — self-employed buyers, new investors and buyers with a thin credit file — who want to price private money honestly before they apply.

A hard money loan calculator is a tool that estimates the payments and the total cost of a short-term, asset-based loan made by a private lender and secured by real estate. You enter the loan amount, the interest rate, the term, the origination points and the fees. The calculator returns the monthly interest-only payment, the principal-and-interest payment, the balloon payment due at the end of the term, the total interest you will pay, and the cash you need to close.

People search for the same tool under several names — hard money calculator, hard loan calculator, hard money lender calculator, hard money lenders calculator and hard money mortgage calculator. The name changes, but the math stays the same: the loan rides on the value of the property, not on a bank’s credit checklist, and the cost hides in three places — the rate, the points, and the length of time you hold the loan. A good calculator makes all three visible before you commit to a deal.

A hard money loan is a short-term loan secured by a hard asset — real estate — and funded by a private individual, an investment group or a specialty lending company instead of a bank. The lender approves the loan mainly on the value of the collateral and the borrower’s equity in it. Credit score, income history and tax returns matter far less than they do at a bank, and they sometimes do not matter at all.

Most hard money loans run 6 to 36 months. They charge interest-only payments during the term and one balloon payment at the end. Rates run well above bank rates, typically 9% to 15%, and lenders add 1 to 3 origination points at closing. In exchange, the borrower gets speed (funding in days, not months), flexible underwriting, and a lender who will finance a distressed, vacant or unrenovated property that a bank would refuse on sight. Investors repay the loan with an exit strategy they plan before they borrow: sell the property, refinance into long-term financing, or lease it up and refinance as a rental.

Four formulas drive every hard money calculation. The calculator above runs all four on your numbers, live.

Two ratios complete the picture. Loan-to-value (LTV) divides the loan by the property’s current value. Loan-to-ARV (LTARV) divides the loan by the after-repair value. Lenders cap both ratios, because the gap between the loan and the value is their safety margin if you default and they must sell the property quickly.

A flipper buys a distressed house for $300,000. The house needs $50,000 of work and will sell for an after-repair value of $400,000. A private lender funds $250,000 at 11% interest for 12 months, charges 2 points, and adds $2,500 in other fees. The structure is interest-only.

The same math at commercial scale explains the classic textbook case: an $800,000 loan at 12% costs $8,000 a month interest-only, or $8,228.90 a month as principal and interest on a 30-year amortization, and it leaves a balloon payment of $793,825.75 after a 2-year term. Run either example in the calculator above — the commercial preset loads the $800,000 case for you — and the numbers match to the cent.

Hard money pricing moves with the lender’s risk, your experience and the leverage you ask for. Recent market ranges for first-lien loans cluster in the bands below. Treat them as a negotiation map, not a quote: your rate lands inside the band once the lender weighs the property, your equity and your exit strategy.

Three levers move your price most. A lower LTV earns a lower rate, because the lender’s margin of safety grows. A record of completed projects earns a lower rate, because the lender prices execution risk. And a clean, documented exit — a likely buyer, a refinance pre-approval, a lease-up plan — earns a lower rate, because the lender sees exactly how the balloon payment gets retired.

Hard money sits at the expensive, fast end of the commercial financing spectrum. The reference table below places it beside the main commercial loan options so you can see what the speed premium actually buys — and what cheaper capital asks for in return, in time, documentation and property condition.

Note: These ranges describe typical market pricing. Individual deals price above and below them, and no table guarantees the rate on your specific property. A commercial mortgage broker can tell you which options you actually qualify for before you pay hard money prices for a deal a cheaper lender would fund.

California runs one of the deepest private lending markets in the country, and hard money loan rates california borrowers see generally track the national bands on this page: roughly 8.5% to 12.5% for well-secured first-position loans, with 1 to 3 points, and higher pricing for second positions, heavy rehab and low-equity deals. Competition among lenders in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, the Bay Area and Sacramento keeps strong deals near the low end, while rural properties and unusual assets price higher because fewer lenders bid on them.

A California hard money loan request moves fastest when you send the lender a complete deal package on day one: the property address and purchase contract, the purchase price and your requested loan amount, the rehab budget and scope of work, the after-repair value with comparable sales, your proof of funds for the down payment and reserves, and your exit strategy. California hard money lenders work under a California Department of Real Estate broker license or a California Financing Law license, and many loans close through escrow in 7 to 14 days. Run your package numbers through the calculator above first, so the payment, points and balloon you request match the payment, points and balloon you can actually carry.

Hard money trades price for speed and certainty. It funds deals that banks reject — distressed property, tight deadlines, thin credit files — and it charges for that risk in the rate, the points and the short term. The sections below walk through when the trade makes sense, how the loans work, what they really cost, and where to find the lenders who make them.

Hard money makes sense when time or property condition blocks every cheaper door. You win an auction or a foreclosure sale that demands a close in two weeks. You find a distressed property priced far below its repaired value, and the seller accepts your offer because you can close like a cash buyer. You buy a commercial building you plan to renovate and re-tenant before you refinance it. In each case the profit sits in the deal itself, and the loan is a short bridge between the purchase and the exit. Hard money makes no sense for a long hold on a thin-margin property: the monthly interest and the approaching balloon will consume a deal that never carried enough spread.

You apply to a private lender with the property and your deal numbers. The lender orders an appraisal or a broker price opinion, checks the value and your equity, and issues a term sheet with the rate, points, LTV and term. Underwriting focuses on the collateral and the exit, so approval often lands in days. At closing — usually through escrow and a recorded deed of trust or mortgage — you pay the points and fees, and the lender funds the purchase portion. On rehab loans, the lender holds the renovation money back and releases it in draws as you complete and document each stage of work. You pay interest monthly, then retire the whole balance with the balloon payment when you sell or refinance.

Hard money costs more than bank money on every line. The rate runs 4 to 8 percentage points above conventional commercial rates. The points add 1% to 3% of the loan at closing. Appraisal, document, processing and extension fees stack on top. The lender charges for real risk — a borrower a bank declined, a property in poor condition, a loan that must perform in months — and for real speed. Your defense is arithmetic: hold the loan for the shortest honest timeline, count every fee in the total cost of borrowing, and never let a low monthly interest-only payment disguise an expensive loan.

Most hard money loans share one structure: interest-only payments each month, a term of 6 to 36 months, and a balloon payment at the end. Some lenders amortize the payment over 15, 20 or 30 years and still call the balance due at month 12 or 24, which lowers the balloon slightly. A $800,000 loan at 12% shows both shapes clearly: $8,000 a month interest-only with a $800,000 balloon, or $8,228.90 a month amortizing over 30 years with a $793,825.75 balloon after 2 years. The calculator’s schedule table lays your own structure out month by month, so you see the balance the balloon will demand before you sign.

House flippers built the modern hard money market. A flip needs three things a bank rarely offers together: approval based on the deal rather than a salary, funding for a property in poor condition, and a close fast enough to beat cash buyers. Hard money delivers all three, and its term matches the flip itself — buy, renovate for two to six months, sell, repay. The flipper’s profit comes from the spread between the total project cost and the after-repair value. That is why this page doubles as a fix and flip loan calculator: the rate matters only inside the bigger question of whether the spread survives the interest, the points and the holding costs.

The trade is simple to state and hard to price without numbers. You gain speed, flexible approval and access to distressed deals. You pay a premium rate, upfront points and a hard deadline. The calculator exists for exactly this weighing: it converts both sides of the trade into dollars for your specific property, term and exit date.

• Speed: funding in 7 to 14 days, against 45 to 90 days or more at a bank.
• Asset-based approval: the property and your equity carry the application, so a low credit score or a past foreclosure does not end it.
• Distressed property welcome: vacant, damaged and unrenovated properties qualify — the very deals with the most profit in them.
• Leverage across deals: private lenders judge each property on its own merits, so experienced investors run several projects at once.
• Flexible terms: payment schedules, draw structures and extensions are negotiable in a way bank products are not.

• High cost: rates of 9% to 15% plus points make hard money the most expensive mainstream financing on the reference table above.
• Short runway: the balloon payment arrives in months. A stalled rehab or a slow sale forces an extension, a refinance under pressure, or a default.
• Lower leverage: LTV caps of 65% to 80% demand a larger down payment than most bank loans.
• Foreclosure risk: the property secures the loan, and private lenders can move faster on default than banks do.
• Fee stacking: extension fees, exit fees and prepayment penalties hide in some term sheets. Read every line before you sign.

You find hard money lenders through local real estate investor associations and meetups, through referrals from agents and wholesalers who close investor deals, through commercial mortgage brokers who place private loans, and through online lender marketplaces and directories. Local lenders often price better on property they can drive past and appraise from experience. Whichever channel you use, collect at least three term sheets, run every one through this calculator on identical inputs, and compare the total cost of borrowing — never the headline rate alone.

The typical hard money loan charges monthly interest-only payments over a 6 to 36 month term and ends with a balloon payment of the full balance. Fix and flip loans usually run 6 to 12 months, bridge loans 6 to 24 months, and commercial or construction hard money 12 to 36 months. Some lenders offer a hybrid: payments calculated on a 30-year amortization with the balance due at the end of the short term. Most notes allow one or two paid extension options of 3 to 6 months, priced at half a point to a full point each — cheap insurance when a sale or a refinance slips by a few weeks.

• You must close in days to win an auction, foreclosure or off-market deal.
• The property is distressed, vacant or uninhabitable, and a bank will not lend on it as-is.
• Your credit score, income documentation or time in business falls short of bank underwriting.
• You flip houses and your profit spread comfortably covers 6 to 12 months of interest and points.
• You bridge the gap between buying one property and selling or refinancing another.
• You buy and renovate a rental, then refinance into long-term or DSCR financing once it stabilizes (the BRRRR sequence).

You should not use a hard money loan when a cheaper loan can close in time, when the deal’s margin is too thin to carry double-digit interest, or when you have no realistic exit before the balloon payment comes due.

A hard money lender runs three ratios on your deal and funds the smallest result. Loan-to-value (LTV) caps the loan against the as-is value. Loan-to-cost (LTC) caps it against your total project cost — purchase price plus rehab budget. Loan-to-ARV (LTARV) caps it against the after-repair value. Standard caps sit near 65% to 80% LTV, 80% to 90% LTC and 70% to 75% LTARV. The 70% rule applies the same discipline from the buyer’s side: pay no more than 70% of ARV minus rehab. On a $400,000 ARV home with a $50,000 rehab, the rule caps your offer at $230,000, and the calculator prints that number on every run so you can test an asking price against it in seconds.

A flip fails on paper long before it fails on site, if you run the full stack of costs. Beyond the interest and points in the main calculator, a real flip carries a rehab budget that lenders fund in draws from a holdback, monthly holding costs for taxes, insurance, utilities and security, and selling costs — agent commissions and closing costs — that typically take 5% to 8% of the sale price. Enter your rehab budget, holding costs and selling percentage in the tool above and it returns your estimated net profit, your ROI on the cash you actually invest, and your break-even sale price: the minimum price that repays the loan, the lender’s fees, the rehab and every month of carry. If the break-even price sits close to your ARV, the deal has no cushion for a rehab overrun or a price cut. Walk away, or renegotiate the purchase price until the 70% rule and the break-even price both leave you room.

The calculator shows you price. It cannot show you probability — and the gap between hard money and a traditional loan is mostly about what happens before and after the payment math.

What the table cannot capture: a bank can decline you in week six and kill the deal, while a hard money lender’s term sheet is close to a commitment once the appraisal confirms value. Sellers know this, and they accept hard-money-backed offers at prices they reject from bank-contingent buyers. On the right deal, that acceptance discount pays the entire cost of the loan.

You negotiate from the deal outward. Bring a complete package — contract, scope of work, comparable sales for the ARV and proof of funds — because a lender prices uncertainty, and a complete package removes it. Ask competing lenders for term sheets and compare them in this hard money lender calculator on total cost, not rate. Then trade the levers lenders actually flex on: accept a lower LTV in exchange for a lower rate, offer an extra point in exchange for a longer term or an extension option, or trade a slightly higher rate for zero points when you expect a fast exit and the points would never amortize. Repeat borrowers earn the best terms in this market, so treat the first loan as the audition for the pricing you want on the fifth.

Usually, yes — and on an interest-only loan, an early exit is pure savings, because every month you skip is a month of interest you never pay. Read three clauses before you sign. A prepayment penalty charges a percentage of the balance if you repay inside a set window. A minimum interest guarantee obliges you to pay a set number of months of interest even if you repay sooner. An exit fee takes a percentage at payoff regardless of timing. Plenty of lenders charge none of the three, especially for experienced borrowers. If your flip will finish in four months, a loan with no minimum interest beats a cheaper-rate loan with a six-month guarantee — run both hold times in the calculator and compare the total interest, not the rate.

Per year, yes. Per deal, often no. A $250,000 loan at 11% with 2 points costs $35,000 over a 12-month hold — a serious number beside a bank loan, and a small one beside a $100,000 spread between a distressed purchase price and a repaired sale price. Hard money becomes genuinely expensive in three situations: the project drifts and the hold stretches, because interest accrues every month and extensions add points; the exit depends on one buyer or one refinance approval, because the balloon deadline does not move; and the deal starts thin, because no loan structure rescues a property bought too close to its finished value. The honest test is the calculator’s total cost of borrowing set against the deal’s realistic profit — a comparison you can run in under a minute.

• Bridge loan: similar short-term structure, often slightly cheaper, from banks and specialty lenders as well as private sources.
• Private money from individuals you know: friends, family or local investors lending on a note you negotiate directly — often the cheapest private capital, with the most personal risk.
• DSCR loan: long-term rental financing underwritten on the property’s rent coverage rather than your income; ideal as the refinance exit from a hard money purchase.
• HELOC or home equity loan: borrow against a property you already own, at bank rates, when you have equity and time to close.
• Cash-out refinance: pull equity from a stabilized property to fund the next purchase without a short-term loan at all.
• Seller financing: the seller carries the note, sometimes at a lower rate and with no points, when the seller values a fast, certain sale.
• Conventional or SBA commercial loan: the cheapest capital for properties and borrowers who qualify — worth the wait when the timeline allows it.
• Partnership or joint venture: an equity partner funds the deal for a share of the profit, replacing interest cost with profit split.

Your numbers stay in your browser. Nothing you type here leaves this page, and no account stores your deal. Bookmark the page, run every term sheet you receive through it on identical inputs, and save the comparison that matters: monthly payment, balloon payment, total interest, total cost of borrowing, cash to close and — for a flip — estimated profit and break-even sale price. A lender’s quote you cannot reproduce in a calculator is a quote you do not yet understand.

Hard money rewards the investor who prices the loan before signing it. You now hold the full picture: the payment, the points, the balloon, the leverage ratios and the profit that survives them. Run your live deal through the calculator at the top of this page, test a second lender’s term sheet against the first, and stress-test the result with a three-month delay added to the term. If the deal still profits on the stressed numbers, you have a deal worth funding — and a loan you understand down to the last dollar.

Disclaimer: This hard money loan calculator provides estimates for planning and education. It is not a loan offer, a rate quote or financial advice. Actual hard money loan rates, points, fees and approvals depend on the lender, the property and the borrower. Confirm every figure on your signed term sheet and note before you close.