Anyone who has been around the real estate profession for any amount of time \u2013 even people buying their first homes \u2013 know that it can be one of those \u201churry up and wait\u201d type of experiences. Once a property is on the buyer\u2019s radar and a purchase decision is made, then it\u2019s time to get all the offer papers filled out and submitted to the seller.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to understand in today\u2019s climate why this is so. Real estate agents know that a good piece of property can command multiple offers and often the first good offer to be submitted is the one that wins the day\u2026or at least wins the first round.<\/p>\n
All too often, with accepted offer in hand, buyers and real estate agents then start to play the waiting game while a conventional lender or bank goes through the process of final loan approval. I\u2019m going to point out several differences between these lenders and hard money lenders in California as I go into the various approaches to loaning money on California real estate, and here\u2019s the first one.<\/p>\n
As an experienced provider of California hard money loans, Evoque Lending has developed an approach to and system of customer service that delivers fast answers to our clients. We make all our decisions in-house, and handle all the necessary forms and paper work ourselves so that when we make a\u00a0hard money loan<\/a>\u00a0on California property we don\u2019t have to depend on others and their unpredictable and lengthy timetables.<\/p>\n Conventional lenders working here, as opposed to hard money lenders in Los Angeles and other parts of the Golden State, are often dealing with far-away loan committees and other departments located in other states. This can be fine for many real estate transactions, but the weaknesses of dealing with a huge corporate lender become quickly apparent when problems arise or time suddenly becomes a critical factor. These are areas where hard money lenders in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other areas of California can come in and \u201csave the day.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, for more than 15 years, Evoque Lending has been in the business of saving real estate purchases after conventional lenders have turned down a borrower\u2019s loan application for one reason or another. I might add that often borrowers run into this problem even after they have been supposedly \u201cpre-qualified\u201d for the loan.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ll give me a minute to leave the immediate subject of California hard money loans, let me tell you a little secret \u2013 and one of my pet peeves \u2013 about the so-called \u201cpre- qualification process.\u201d I think it\u2019s fair to say that when you hear conventional lenders boasting about their ability to pre-qualify the loan for your dream house, it\u2019s more of a marketing strategy than a financial or lending strategy.<\/p>\n As a hard-money lender in California, you might think I\u2019m a little biased, but I believe that if you research this yourself you\u2019ll discover the same thing. The pre-qualification process is only the first tiny step on a long road to being really qualified for a loan. There are many, many steps after your offer is in on a home and too many times borrowers are denied a loan after having been prequalified.<\/p>\n Okay, I\u2019ll step down off my soap box now and get back into outlining many of the advantages a hard money loan gives Los Angeles, San Francisco and other borrowers throughout California.<\/p>\n One of the most important elements in approving a conventional loan is the borrower\u2019s credit rating. If you\u2019ve been following the real estate industry over the last several years, you\u2019ll know that regulations have essentially forced banks and other conventional lenders to require higher and higher credit ratings before they approve any loans.<\/p>\n Hard money lenders \u2013 California based, or elsewhere \u2013 are not under the same constraints as these lenders. We successfully fund hard money loans for borrowers who do not meet the minimum credit rating qualifications for banks and other conventional lenders.<\/p>\n Let me back up for just one second. As guidelines for credit ratings were increasing in recent years, there was something else going on in our economy as well, and we call it a recession. Anyone working in any sector of the economy felt the impact of the recession. Further, after the recession was officially over, the economy continued to be in a bit of a slump for quite some time.<\/p>\n Frankly, we are very fortunate in California that jobs seemed to return here fairly quickly and in addition to that, our real estate property values have done an extraordinary job rebounding. Yet for a variety of reasons, conventional lenders seem to think that real estate in California \u2013 including Los Angeles real estate, Orange County real estate and real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area \u2013 is still problematic when it comes to writing loans.<\/p>\n Fortunately, as one of the top independent hard money lenders in the Los Angeles and Southern California area, Evoque Lending is able to respond more quickly to actual market conditions and specific borrower situations. We have been able to properly gauge the turnaround in the real estate market and we also know that a lot of the folks being denied conventional loans today are just victims of the economic downturn.<\/p>\n But even more importantly, we know that many of these borrowers who are saddled with a low credit score today are actually in very strong financial situations: it\u2019s just that their credit scores don\u2019t yet reflect that fact. When you\u2019re sitting on a far-away, corporate loan committee, it\u2019s impossible to understand this. But when you\u2019re a California hard money lender, like Evoque Lending, and you\u2019re sitting across the table or desk from the borrower, you can better understand the situation.<\/p>\n This is why an arbitrary credit score isn\u2019t how approval for California\u00a0hard money loans<\/a>\u00a0is determined. There are really two major elements for California hard money lenders when they make their final decision on a potential borrower\u2019s loan application, and these are:<\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0The ability of the borrower to meet his or her obligations, and<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0The value of the property.<\/strong><\/p>\n You see, neither of these two main factors have anything to do with a credit rating. It\u2019s a fact that today a lot of solid borrowers are recovering from going through a time in their lives when they were stuck with a low credit rating. At Evoque Lending we know that we need to look beyond the credit rating. After all, even corporate bankers will tell you that you can\u2019t tell if borrowers can make their payments this month based on a credit score that reflects things that have happened many years ago.<\/p>\n By the way \u2013 and I need to do a follow-up article on this subject \u2013 many people who want to buy their first home, get into investment property, or refinance existing real estate, discover that a California hard money loan gives them the means to boost their credit scores and finally get back into the \u201cgood graces\u201d of the conventional lending industry. In fact, using hard money loans, Los Angeles residents with credit score problems are often able to buy property and quickly secure conventional loans.<\/p>\n By having our office staffed with local experienced experts, we are able to give our borrowers the individualized and timely assistance they need. Evoque Lending<\/a> can give you the answer you require within 24 hours. This is one of the best aspects when working a hard money lender \u2013 San Francisco, Los Angeles and California residents soon discover.<\/p>\nCalifornia hard money loans and credit scores<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Independent hard money lenders in Los Angeles<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Local experts facilitate California hard money loans<\/strong><\/h2>\n