Loan structure
Hard money, when speed is the deal
Hard money is asset-first lending: the property’s value carries the file, the paperwork is light, and the speed is the product. It costs more than patient capital because it is solving a different problem — a deadline, a distressed seller, a property banks will not touch in its current state. Used deliberately, with a real exit, it is a tool; used as a default, it is an expensive habit.
- 5,000+loan programs screened
- 5–8matches on a typical deal
- $0 upfrontto submit and compare offers
- 0.50–1.00%broker fee, paid only at closing
When is hard money the right tool?
When the opportunity has a clock on it and conventional diligence cannot beat the clock: an auction, a seller who needs certainty this week, a property whose condition disqualifies it from bank financing until work is done. The structure is honest about its trade — you pay for speed and tolerance — and the discipline is matching the loan’s term to a real exit rather than hoping one appears.
How do you keep hard money from dictating terms?
By making programs compete. The hard-money market is fragmented and local, and the spread between quotes on the same deal is wider than anywhere else in real estate debt — points, rate, draw handling and extension terms all move lender to lender. A borrower who takes the first quote pays the fragmentation; a borrower whose file reaches several programs at once collects it. See our guide to comparing hard money lenders in Houston for what actually varies.
How does getting matched actually work?
You describe the deal once — about five minutes — and it is screened against 5,000+ loan programs. Most deals return 5–8 matches, and the median first offer arrives in under an hour. There is $0 upfront; the fee is 0.50–1.00%, paid only at closing.
YieldStack is a commercial mortgage brokerage, not a lender. The rate, the leverage and the credit decision belong to the lenders competing for your deal; our job is making sure the right ones see it at the same time, so the terms you compare are real competition rather than one desk’s appetite.
What do lenders actually look at?
Every program weighs these in its own way — which is the argument for several quoting at once.
- The asset’s value today, evidenced fast
- Equity in the deal and who loses first if it goes wrong
- The exit, dated and plausible
- The condition or complication that priced out the banks
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is hard money more expensive?
Because the lender is absorbing speed, light documentation and asset risk that patient capital will not. The price buys certainty and pace; whether that trade is worth it depends entirely on what the deadline is worth to the deal.
Is hard money the same as a bridge loan?
They overlap but are not identical: bridge is defined by its role (short-term until an exit), hard money by its underwriting (asset-first, speed-first). Many loans are both. The comparison is worth understanding before choosing — see the bridge loan page and our Texas comparison guide.
Do hard money lenders check credit?
Most look, few decide on it — the asset and the exit dominate. Programs differ on where credit enters the pricing, which is one more reason the same file should see more than one program.
Is YieldStack a lender?
No. YieldStack is a commercial mortgage brokerage, not a lender. Every term sheet comes from a lender in the network and is subject to that lender's underwriting.
Does it cost anything to see terms?
No. It costs $0 upfront to submit a deal and review offers; YieldStack's broker fee is 0.50–1.00% of the loan amount and is paid only at closing.
Is financing guaranteed?
No. Every credit decision is made by the lender; YieldStack arranges the introductions and negotiates on the borrower's side, and no loan, rate, or closing is guaranteed.
Next step
One deal.Several lenders.
YieldStack is a commercial mortgage brokerage, not a lender.