Free tools · no email gate · we tell you how we get paid
Two lenders quote you 11% and 2 points.
One of them costs 30% more.
Nothing on either term sheet makes that obvious. Hard money is priced in a way that hides most of its cost in four places, and every guide, comparison and calculator in this category is published by someone selling the loan. This one is not.
- No lender directory
- No "best lenders" list
- No referral fees
- No email gate on the tools
The four places the cost hides
Interest on money you have not received
Many lenders charge interest on the full facility, including the rehab holdback still sitting with them. On a typical rehab that is a 20-25% swing in the interest bill. It is almost never on the term sheet.
Months you never use
A minimum-interest clause means you owe 3 to 6 months whether or not the loan is outstanding. Pay off fast and you are charged for the privilege.
Six fees nobody quoted
There are usually nine fees on a hard money loan. A term sheet names two or three. Under about $150,000 the flat ones can exceed the points.
The months you run over
Projects run late; that is the base rate, not a failure. An extension fee plus three more months of interest and carry is commonly $13,000 on a $300,000 loan.
Three calculators, no email gate
Everything runs in your browser. There is no submit button because there is nothing to submit.
True cost of a hard money loan
The accrual basis, minimum interest, the whole fee stack, draw fees and extensions - expressed as an effective annualised cost against the money you actually use.
Start hereThe 70% rule calculator
The rule's maximum offer, next to what your real costs, hold time and required profit actually allow. They are rarely the same number.
The refinance-out check
Whether your BRRRR refinance repays the bridge, clears DSCR, and fits inside the seasoning window - before you take the hard money.
Start with these
How to read a hard money term sheet
A line-by-line walkthrough of what a hard money term sheet says, what it means, and the twelve questions that decide what the loan actually costs you.
The most expensive word on your term sheet
Whether interest accrues on the full loan or only on the money you have actually drawn is the biggest cost difference between two lenders quoting the same rate. Here is the arithmetic.
The fee stack, line by line
There are usually nine fees on a hard money loan. A term sheet typically names two. Here is the complete list, what each one should cost, and which are negotiable.
The 70% rule, honestly
Google asks about the 70% rule more than almost anything else in this category. It is two different things wearing one name, and only one of them is a rule you should follow.
A hard money loan, worked through end to end
Every number on a representative fix-and-flip, from the offer to the payoff - including the three ordinary things that go wrong and what they cost.
How much cash you actually need
The down payment is roughly a third of what a leveraged flip requires in real cash. Here is the full list, with a worked total.
All 25 guides · 12 loan types · Questions people actually ask · Glossary
Be suspicious of this page too
Everything above says the other guy has an interest you cannot see. So here is ours, in the plainest words we can find.
Nobody pays us. No advertising, no lead form, no affiliate links, no money from any lender, and nothing on this site collects your details — the calculators run entirely in your browser and never transmit anything. It is published at our own cost.
There is no "best hard money lenders of 2026" list here either, because that question has no honest answer and a paid one is just an advert. If any of that changes, the disclosure page already sets out what we have committed to — written down in advance, so that changing our minds later would be visible.
Judge it on whether the numbers here hold up, not on whether we claim to be disinterested. The full disclosure is here.