Wikipedia defines a hard money lender as “lending companies offering a specialized type of real-estate backed loan.” Therefore, hard money lenders provide short-term loans (also known as a bridge loan) that provide funding based on the value of real estate that has been collateralized for the loan. Hard money lenders typically have much higher interest rates than banks because they fund deals that do not conform to bank standards, but in the long run, these deals tend to pay off much more.

Just because hard money lenders will offer a range of requirements on the loan-to-value percentage, type of real estate and minimum loan size for a hard money loan doesn’t mean the everyday Joe Schmoe can’t qualify. It’d be at least beneficial to look into the whole thing. Who knows, you’re likely to find an even greater deal. Just remember, there are many different types of hard money loans such as fix and flip loans, construction loans and bridge loans, Arizona land banking, Mezzanine financing, land acquisition and development, land loans joint ventures and many more. The variety is just to make sure your particular needs are met.