Guide
Out-of-state, remote and foreign-national borrowers
Remote online notarisation, foreign-qualifying an entity, and what a lender needs when you are not in the country the property is in.
Investing at a distance is normal now, and lenders have mostly caught up. What has not caught up is the paperwork — and the obstacles are almost never underwriting ones. They are notarisation, entity registration and identity verification.
Remote online notarisation (RON)
Loan documents need notarising, and if you are not in the same place as a notary that used to stop the transaction. Remote online notarisation lets you appear by video before a commissioned notary and sign electronically.
- Most states now authorise RON in some form, and adoption accelerated sharply after 2020.
- What matters is not only your state but the property's state, and the title company's policy. A title underwriter that will not insure a RON-executed deed of trust is the constraint, not the law.
- Some documents may still need wet-ink signature or an apostille, particularly from abroad.
- Ask three parties before you rely on it: the lender, the title company, and the county recorder where the document will be recorded.
If your entity is registered somewhere else
A Delaware or Wyoming LLC buying in Georgia usually needs to foreign-qualify in Georgia — register as an out-of-state entity doing business there — before it can take title cleanly and before the lender will close.
- Foreign qualification takes time and costs a filing fee, and often needs a registered agent in that state.
- Some investors form a new single-purpose LLC in the property's state instead, which is frequently simpler than qualifying an existing one.
- Your entity must be in good standing, which means annual filings are current.
- See entity structure for what the entity is doing in the first place.
Foreign nationals
Plenty of private lenders will lend to non-US citizens on business-purpose investment property. It is a documentation problem rather than a refusal, and it is priced.
| What changes | Typically |
|---|---|
| Leverage | Lower — expect a larger down payment than a US borrower |
| Pricing | Higher, sometimes materially |
| Identity | Passport, visa where applicable, and enhanced KYC |
| Credit | Often no US credit file at all, which pushes weight onto the deal and your cash |
| Tax identification | An ITIN or an EIN for the entity is normally required |
| Banking | A US bank account for the entity makes everything easier |
| Withholding on sale | FIRPTA withholding may apply when the property is sold |
The practical sequence
- Confirm the lender lends to your borrower profile, in that state, at all.
- Confirm RON is acceptable to the lender and the title company and the recorder.
- Form or foreign-qualify the entity in the property's state, with a registered agent.
- Get the EIN and open a US bank account in the entity's name.
- Line up the identity documents early — this is what actually delays closings.
- For foreign nationals, get tax advice on FIRPTA and on how the profit will be taxed.
Questions people actually ask
What are the qualifications for a hard money loan?
In the order the lender actually cares about: the deal (purchase price against as-is value and after-repair value), your cash into the transaction, your exit, your track record, and last and least, your credit.
Practically, most lenders want to see 80%-90% of purchase price from them and the rest from you, a rehab budget that has been scoped rather than guessed, a credit score somewhere north of 620-660 as a screen rather than a pricing input, an entity to take title, and reserves beyond your down payment. First-timers get less leverage and worse pricing, not a refusal.
How do I qualify for a hard money loan?
Bring a deal that works on the lender's numbers, not yours. That means a defensible ARV, a rehab scope with line items rather than a round number, cash to close that you can document, and a specific exit with a date. Everything else - credit, income, experience - moves your pricing but rarely decides the answer on its own.
Are hard money loans hard to get?
Comparatively, no - which is the point of the product. Approval turns on the collateral, so a borrower who would be declined instantly by a bank can be approved in days. What is hard is getting good terms: the gap between what an experienced investor with ten flips is quoted and what a first-timer is quoted is large, and it shows up in leverage and points rather than in a yes or no.
How difficult is it to get a hard money loan?
Days rather than weeks, and the paperwork is a fraction of a conventional file. The friction is in the valuation and the draw process, not the approval.
How hard is it to get a hard money loan?
See above. The realistic constraint for most first-time borrowers is not approval, it is cash to close - see how much cash you actually need.
What are the requirements for getting a hard money loan?
A property under contract or owned, an as-is value and an ARV the lender can support, a scoped rehab budget, documented cash to close, an entity in most cases, hazard insurance naming the lender, title, and a stated exit. Income documentation is usually light or absent; that is the trade you are making.