100% hard money financing and no-money-down deals

Search results for hard money are full of lenders advertising 100% financing, no minimum credit score, no experience required. Some of it is real. All of it means something more specific than the headline.

The four things "100%" usually means

100% of the rehab budget: Real, common, and standard at most lenders. It says nothing about the purchase, which is still 80%-90%. This is the most frequent honest use of the phrase.
100% of purchase, capped by ARV: Real but deal-specific. If you are buying at $180,000 with a $400,000 ARV, the lender's 70% ARV cap is $280,000 - so financing the whole purchase is inside their box. You did not get special treatment; you found a deal cheap enough that the collateral carried it. You will still fund points, fees and closing costs.
100% with cross-collateralisation: Real, and it means a second property you own secures the loan. You have not eliminated the down payment, you have substituted equity in another asset for it - and put that asset at risk. See cross-collateralisation.
100% with a partner or gap funder: Real, and it is not the lender's money. Someone else is funding your equity in exchange for a share of the profit or a second-position note at a high rate. Fine if you understand it; expensive if you thought it was financing.

What no version of it eliminates

Points. Lender fees. The appraisal. Title and escrow. Insurance. Carrying costs. The first rehab draw. Interest payments. There is no structure in this product where you close with zero dollars, and any offer implying otherwise is either a gap funder, a partner, or not real.

The uncomfortable arithmetic

The version worth taking seriously

100% of rehab with 90% of purchase, from a lender charging interest on the drawn balance, is a genuinely good structure and it is widely available. It is also not what the advertisement is selling. Ask which one you are being offered.

Questions people actually ask

How much do you put down on a hard money loan?

Against as-is value, lenders typically go to 60% to 75%, so 25%-40% comes from you. On a purchase with rehab the more common framing is loan-to-cost: 80%-90% of the purchase price plus 100% of the rehab budget, held back and released in draws.

Do not confuse the down payment with cash to close. Points, flat fees, title, insurance and the first draw you fund yourself all sit on top. Ten to fifteen percent of purchase price is a realistic planning figure for total cash needed on a leveraged flip.

How much down do you need for a hard money loan?

See above - 10% to 20% of purchase is the usual range, before fees and reserves.

Does a hard money lender cover 100%?

Almost never on purchase price, and the offers advertising it usually mean something narrower: 100% of the rehab budget (common and real), or 100% of purchase where the purchase is far below as-is value and the loan is still inside the lender's ARV cap (rare and deal-specific), or 100% with cross-collateralisation against another property you own (real, and it puts a second asset at risk).

Treat a headline promising 100% financing with no cash as the marketing hook it usually is, and read what the offer actually caps at. See the truth about 100% financing.

How long do you have to pay off a hard money loan?

Terms run 6 to 24 months, with 12 months the most common. That is a hard deadline with a fee attached, not a guideline - which is why the exit matters more than the rate.

How do you pay back a hard money loan?

Three ways, and you should know which one before you sign. Sell the property and pay off from proceeds. Refinance into longer-term debt, usually a DSCR rental loan. Or pay it off from other capital. Most hard money loans are interest-only during the term with the principal due as a balloon at the end, so there is no amortisation quietly reducing what you owe.