We treat Arizona the way we treat California: as a home market, not a state we reach into now and then. The programs and published terms are the same on both sides of the Colorado River, and every Arizona hard money loan is underwritten and closed by our team in San Diego, with title, escrow and any appraisal handled locally.
Getting one comes down to four things, in order: the property, the exit, the documents and the close. Here is each step, then the programs, the three main markets and the cost.
How an Arizona hard money loan works, step by step
1. The property
A hard money loan is underwritten on the asset first. Our investor programs lend on non-owner occupied property, and the residential programs cover single-family homes, condos and townhomes and 2-4 unit buildings. Start with the address, the price or value, the condition and the plan.
Condition points to the program: a renovation belongs on fix and flip, a property that needs time, a tenant or a refinance belongs on a bridge loan, and a lot belongs on construction. Value comes from an appraisal or, where a program allows it, a broker price opinion, and on a rehab the after repair value matters as much as today’s price.
2. The exit
Lenders underwrite the repayment plan as closely as the property. For a flip, the exit is a sale, measured against comparable sales in that exact submarket: an Oro Valley flip is judged on Oro Valley sales, not on central Tucson’s. For a hold, the exit is a refinance into long-term debt, and the property has to qualify for it on the day you need it.
Test the exit before you sign a contract: take the finished value, apply the refinance lender’s leverage, check the rent against the new payment and confirm the result pays off the short-term loan.
3. The documents
Our fix and flip program publishes a short documentation list: an application, a schedule of real estate owned and proof of funds. Add the purchase contract (or the payoff on a refinance) and, when there is work to do, the rehab budget and scope. If you buy in an LLC, have the entity documents ready; vesting and any guarantee are confirmed on the Letter of Intent.
Proof of funds shows that the cash side of the plan is real: the down payment, the closing costs and the carry while the property earns nothing.
4. The close, and how fast it happens
The process has four steps: the application, the documents, a signed Letter of Intent that sets out the terms, points and fees, and the close. Title and escrow open locally, and the loan is secured by a deed of trust recorded against the property.
Our standard process closes in 5 to 7 days once the file is complete, and as fast as 3 days on a clean file. The bridge program’s published range is 3 to 14 days. When a file slows down, the cause is usually title or a missing document, not the credit decision.
The programs Arizona investors use most
All of our investor programs run in Arizona, and four of them do most of the work. Every rate, term and price below is subject to change, and every loan is subject to underwriting.
Fix and flip. Rates from 9.99% to 12.00%, up to 85% of the purchase and 100% of the rehab, with the total capped at 75% of the after repair value. Terms run 6 to 18 months on loans from $250,000 to $10,000,000. The minimum credit score is 620, first time flippers are allowed and there is no prepayment penalty. Rehab money is held back and released in draws, and interest accrues only on what has been drawn.
Bridge. Rates from 9.00% to 13.00%, up to 75% LTV on residential property and 70% on commercial, on 1 or 2 year terms from $150,000 to $25,000,000. The minimum credit score is 650, the property must be non-owner occupied, there is no prepayment penalty, and the residential bridge requires no borrower experience (the large-balance bridge asks for comparable experience). It fits a fast purchase, a cash-out or a lease-up ahead of a refinance.
Rental DSCR. Rates from 6.50% to 9.99% on the Non-QM tier, up to 80% LTV, on 5, 7, 30 and 40 year fixed terms, with a 620 minimum credit score. It covers non-owner occupied SFR, condo and townhome and 2-4 unit rentals, accepts first time investors and permits short term rental income. The rental portfolio and multifamily term products require landlord experience. This is the refinance that takes out a bridge, or a flip you decide to keep.
Construction. Priced per project, up to 80% loan to cost across the lot, the build and the interest reserve, on 12 to 18 month terms, with loans above $4,000,000 by special approval. The minimum credit score is 600, and the ground-up product asks for 2 prior ground-up projects. Draws follow the build, with interest on the drawn balance only.
Phoenix, Tucson and Scottsdale are different deals
The Phoenix metro has the widest mix in the state: flips, build-to-rent infill, small apartment buildings, furnished rentals and commercial property along the arterial roads. In the East Valley, a Mesa flip that ends as a DSCR rental, a Tempe furnished rental and a Chandler or Gilbert build-to-rent project are all typical files, and Glendale, Peoria and Goodyear fill out the West Valley. Our page on hard money loans in Phoenix covers the metro city by city.
Tucson runs the same strategies across the city, Oro Valley, Marana, Sahuarita and the Catalina Foothills: single-family flips, small multifamily, furnished rentals and local commercial property. One local trap: South Tucson is a separate city surrounded by Tucson, with its own permits and comparable sales, so the appraisal and title work have to treat it that way. Our page on hard money lenders in Tucson has the specifics.
Scottsdale brings larger balances and less patience for delay: luxury flips and rebuilds, furnished rentals in Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills and Cave Creek, and estate purchases that use the top of the bridge range, up to $25,000,000. At that size, points and leverage move the total cost more than a small difference in rate. See hard money loans in Scottsdale.
Owner occupied bridge loans in Arizona
Our investor programs are business-purpose loans on property you do not live in. For your own home, the owner occupied bridge lists Arizona among its five published states: California, Oregon, Arizona, Utah and Florida. It covers the window between buying your next home and selling the current one.
The terms: from 10.50%, up to 70% of the purchase price, 11 and 12 month terms and a $500,000 minimum loan. The exit is set in advance: a refinance into a conventional or jumbo loan within 12 months. As a consumer-purpose loan, it follows consumer lending rules, and availability for a specific Arizona home is confirmed on your file.
Deeds of trust and trustee’s sales in Arizona
In Arizona, a loan against real estate is typically secured by a deed of trust. The borrower (the trustor) conveys the property to a trustee as security for the loan, for the benefit of the lender (the beneficiary). The deed of trust is recorded in the county where the property sits and released when the loan is paid off.
Arizona law gives the trustee a power of sale. If the loan defaults and the default is not cured, the property can be sold at a trustee’s sale, a public auction, without a lawsuit, although the lender may choose to foreclose in court instead. The trustee first records a notice of sale, and under A.R.S. § 33-807 the sale cannot be held before the 91st day after that notice is recorded.
For a borrower, the practical point is that the deed of trust is the lender’s security, which is why title gets read so closely before closing.
What an Arizona hard money loan costs
The price has three parts: the rate, from the program’s published range; the points, an origination charge set loan by loan and quoted on the Letter of Intent; and the third-party costs, such as title, escrow and the valuation. Add all three across the months you will actually hold the loan, ask for the total in writing, and compare that number rather than the rate. Our guide to choosing a hard money lender lists the questions that bring the whole cost into the open.
A hypothetical example using the published fix and flip caps, not a market figure: a $400,000 purchase, a $100,000 rehab and a $560,000 after repair value. The purchase cap gives $340,000 (85% of $400,000) and the rehab adds $100,000, a total of $440,000. But 75% of the after repair value is $420,000, and the tightest test wins, so $420,000 is the most the published caps allow. The remaining $80,000 of cost, plus points, third-party costs and the carry, comes from you.
Start your Arizona file
Send us the address, the price or payoff, the plan and the exit, and we will tell you which program fits and what the file needs to close. For a renovation, start with the fix and flip program. For anything else, submit a loan request or call (619) 617-2797.
