Total project cost
Start with the purchase price or current value, then add the rehab or construction budget. Include the costs that are easy to forget: permits, plans, utilities, insurance, and contingency.
Deal education
A good deal has to work after the simple math.
Before you ask how much you can borrow, pressure-test what the project costs, what the exit is worth, and how long your money will be tied up.
A quick purchase-price-minus-rehab calculation can make almost any project look profitable. Real estate deals get decided by the costs around that simple calculation. The point of this guide is not to make the decision for you. It is to make the important questions visible before you spend time, money, or credibility on a project.
Realistic exit value
Use an after-repair or completed value you can support with comparable sales, rent, or a refinance plan. The best case is not the same thing as the likely case.
Time and carrying cost
Estimate how long the project will take to complete, sell, or refinance. Interest, taxes, insurance, utilities, and maintenance continue while the property is waiting.
Costs to get out
Selling costs, closing costs, commissions, lender fees, and payoff amounts all come out of the result. A paper profit can disappear when the full exit is modeled.
Program guidelines shown are maximum or minimum parameters, not an offer of credit. Every loan is subject to borrower, property, transaction, state, underwriting, and final approval.
The question William asks
What has to be true for this deal to work?
That question is more useful than asking whether a lender will approve a number. It forces the plan to account for the property, the work, the financing, and the exit at the same time.
Warning signs worth slowing down for
- The projected profit depends on the highest possible sale price.
- The budget has no contingency for surprises behind the walls or underground.
- The timeline assumes every permit, draw, contractor, and sale goes perfectly.
- Holding costs are left out because the property is expected to sell quickly.
- The deal only works if the borrower brings no cash and every number is at the maximum.
Bring the right questions
Financing is part of the model, not the whole model.
Once the project math is clear, financing questions become much more useful. The purchase price, current value, payoff, rehab or construction budget, exit value, timeline, and cash to close give William enough context to talk about structure.
If you are not sure which program fits, that is fine. Start with the property and the plan. Fix and flip, new construction, rental, and bridge financing solve different problems, and the right structure depends on what happens after the loan closes.
Talk through my dealHave a real project to pressure-test?
Send the property, the numbers, and the timeline. William can help you see what needs to be true before you decide how to finance it.