Texas Hard Money & Private Money Loans

At Cedar Top, yes. Both terms mean a loan underwritten on the property instead of your W-2, funded by a private lender rather than a bank. Some people use "private money" for money from an individual and "hard money" for a lending company, but in Texas the terms are used interchangeably. Our programs, rates, and process are the same whichever word you use.

Rates start at 12% with an origination fee of 2% to 4% depending on the program and the deal. Hard money is priced higher than a bank loan because it moves faster and is underwritten on the asset. Full numbers by program are on our rates and terms page.

Hard money is asset focused, so the property, project plan, borrower profile, and exit strategy can carry more weight than a credit score alone. Cedar Top may still review credit, experience, liquidity, and other borrower information, subject to underwriting.

We look at both the borrower and the property on all of our loans. For the borrower we consider experience, income, liquidity, net worth, and credit score. For the property, we consider type of use, extent of renovation, and as-repaired value (ARV).

In most cases the loan amount must not exceed 75% of the after repaired value.

We can close in as little as 24 hours pending title work, subject to underwriting, documentation, and approval.

The rehab portion of your loan is placed into an escrow account at the time of funding. After each stage of work passes inspection, that draw is released. We typically receive an inspection report within 48 hours and disburse the funds the following day. The full walkthrough is on our draw process page.

At Cedar Top, rates start at 12% with an origination fee of 2% to 4% and a $995 document fee. Payments are interest only and there is no prepayment penalty. Transactional funding is priced differently: a flat 1.5% fee with a $1,500 minimum, and you only pay if your deal closes. Any private lender should hand you numbers like these before you apply.

A legitimate private money lender puts its terms in writing and closes through a title company. Before you commit you should have a term sheet stating rate, points, fees, leverage, and term, and funds should move through a Texas title company at closing, never by wire to an individual. We publish our rates and terms, and every Cedar Top loan closes through title.

We do not. Cedar Top makes business-purpose loans secured by non-owner-occupied Texas investment property. We do not lend on primary residences and we do not make consumer or personal loans. If you need a consumer loan, a private money lender is the wrong tool.

For a borrower, the main risk is the exit. Private money is short term, so if the sale or refinance that pays off the loan slips, the carrying cost adds up fast. That is why we underwrite the exit strategy as hard as we underwrite the property. For people who lend their own money, most of the risk lives in the back office: payment tracking, escrow, and reporting, which is the work our loan servicing team handles for Texas note holders.