Hard Money Lenders in Charleston, WV | Capital Kings LLC
Capital Kings LLC · Non-QM Mortgage Broker

Hard Money Lenders inCharleston, West Virginia

Fix and flip, DSCR rental and new construction financing for Charleston investors. We do not lend our own money, we shop your deal across a 400+ lender network and come back with real terms you can compare on total cost.

Get a term sheet →Price a Charleston deal

Prefer to talk it through? Call or text Micah at (281) 636-5682.

Reviewed by Micah Foster, Founder & CEO, September 2026

Price a Charleston deal right now

Prefilled with a realistic Charleston deal. Change any number and it reprices on the programs that lend in West Virginia, with the same math as our term sheets.

Sizing your flip on the same terms as the term sheet. Get a real term sheet →

Financing a deal in Charleston

Charleston is the state capital, squeezed into the valley where the Elk River meets the Kanawha, and that geography shapes every deal. Flat land is scarce, so the houses on the flats, Kanawha City and the East End, trade at a premium to the ones clinging to the hillsides. The stock runs from Victorian and four-square homes near the Capitol to postwar brick ranches and Cape Cods in Kanawha City. It’s a small market with a stable buyer pool built on state government, the hospitals and the legal and energy offices downtown.

The Charleston deal is decided by thin inventory. Only a small number of houses sell each month inside the city, and the good ones go fast; Redfin shows homes selling in a few weeks and prices up sharply over the past year. That’s good for your exit and hard on your purchase. Finding the house is the whole game here, and it usually comes from estates, out-of-state heirs and direct mail rather than the MLS. Once you have it, a clean, systems-first renovation sells.

What a Charleston deal looks like on paper

Charleston example: $120,000 purchase, $45,000 rehab, $235,000 after repair value, 700 credit, first flip. The engine puts that borrower on the Best Rate program at 9.49%. Say a 1950s brick ranch in Kanawha City, 25304, that needs a kitchen, both baths, a furnace and a regraded yard so water runs away from the foundation. Every number below is what the instant term sheet prints for that deal, so the picture cannot contradict the page.

Loan amount$147,000
Cash to close$29,567
Proof of funds to show$50,042
Where the $29,567 goes
  • Down payment (15% of the purchase)You$18,000
  • Origination (0.5%)Lender$2,000
  • Lender fees (flat)Lender$1,989
  • Broker fee (1%)Broker$2,000
  • Title and closing (estimate at Texas rates)Title$3,062
  • Prepaid interest (15 days)Lender$398
  • Property insuranceInsurer$1,568
  • AppraisalAppraiser$550

Interest while you rehab: $807 a month on the $102,000 funded at closing, $1,163 once every draw is out. Proof of funds is cash to close plus $13,500 of rehab reserve and $6,975 of interest reserve. Sample borrower, sample address; the sheet is issued by the same engine as the borrower’s instant term sheet.

Fix and flip programs in Charleston

Swipe the table for rates, credit and terms →

ProgramDown paymentMin creditExperienceRateOriginationMax loanTermClose
Best Rate15% of purchase700+First flip OK8.99% to 9.49%0.5%70% of ARV12 months5-14 days
First Flip, 10% Down110% of purchase + rehab660+First flip OK9.99%2%75% of ARV12 months21-30 days
7.5% Down, 3+ Flips27.5% of purchase + rehab660+3+ completed flips9.99%1.5%75% of ARV12 months21-30 days
5% Down, 5+ Flips35% of purchase660+5+ completed flips9.99% to 10.99%2%75% of ARV9-24 months10-14 days
100% Financing, 2+ Flips40% (100% financing)620+2+ completed flips9.50% to 12.00%2.5%70% of ARV9 months7-14 days
  1. Rate 9.99% with 2% to 2.25% origination by credit; more origination buys the rate down as far as 8.99%. Loans under $150,000 add 0.5% to the rate and 0.5% to the origination, under $100,000 1.5% and 1%. Under 680 credit the loan caps at 87.5% of cost. Standard interest, charged only on funds drawn. The loan is capped at a share of purchase plus rehab, the full rehab held back for draws, and the ARV must be at least 1.25 times purchase plus rehab. Processing $500, legal $1,495 and underwriting $795.
  2. Rate 9.99% with 1.5% to 1.75% origination by credit; more origination buys the rate down as far as 8.99%. Loans under $150,000 add 0.5% to the rate and 0.5% to the origination, under $100,000 1.5% and 1%. Under 680 credit the loan caps at 90% of cost. Standard interest, charged only on funds drawn. The loan is capped at a share of purchase plus rehab, the full rehab held back for draws, and the ARV must be at least 1.25 times purchase plus rehab. Processing $500, legal $1,495 and underwriting $795.
  3. Rate is set per file from 9.99%; origination about 2% plus a $995 processing fee.
  4. Needs 2 completed flips in the last two years and about $75,000 in verified liquidity. Rate 9.5% to 12% with 2% to 3% origination, set per file. Purchase plus rehab must fit under 70% of ARV.

Origination has a $2,000 minimum on most programs (a few lenders set a higher one, noted above) and our broker fee is 1% with a $2,000 minimum and a $10,000 maximum. These are the numbers our term sheets use as of October 2026. Strong credit, cash and a track record can price lower through specific lenders in the network.

Where Charleston prices sit right now

Before we price a Charleston flip, we look at where sales in the city sit today. Your block can run well above or below these numbers, so treat them as the starting point, not the answer.

Redfin puts the Charleston median sale price at $230,000 for the three months ending August 2026, up 12.1% from a year earlier, with homes selling in about 23 days. Zillow’s home value index for the city is $166,696, up 2.6%. In Kanawha City, 25304, where our example sits, Redfin’s median is $236,000 and homes sell in about 18 days.

Median sale price, Charleston (Redfin, 3 months to Aug 2026)$230,000
Days on market, Charleston (Redfin)23
Zillow home value index, Charleston (Aug 2026)$166,696
Median sale price, 25304 Kanawha City (Redfin)$236,000
Days on market, 25304 (Redfin)18

Sources: Redfin, Charleston WV housing market, Zillow, Charleston WV home values, Redfin, 25304 housing market

How a Charleston file actually gets priced

With so few sales, a Charleston appraisal often reaches further back in time or across neighborhoods than it would in a bigger city, and that’s where values get argued. We look for comps inside the same area, Kanawha City against Kanawha City, South Hills against South Hills, and we will go back six months before we cross the river. Flat lot versus hillside matters as much as square footage. A house with steps up from the street and no parking is a different product from a ranch with a driveway on the flats, even a block apart.

Hillsides and water are the two risks. Much of Charleston is built on slopes, and slips, failing retaining walls and runoff into basements are common, so have the lot looked at, not just the house. The low streets near the Kanawha and Elk carry flood zone designations and need flood insurance priced before you close. The older housing brings original wiring, galvanized plumbing and lead paint. West Virginia also requires contractors to hold a state license above a modest job size, so confirm your GC is licensed before the first draw.

Who buys your finished Charleston deal

Finished Charleston houses sell to state employees, nurses and staff at the CAMC hospitals, and professionals downtown, many using FHA, VA or a state first-time buyer program. They want move-in ready, off-street parking and no water in the basement. South Hills and the East End support the highest prices; Kanawha City sells steadily in the middle. Rentals near the Capitol and the University of Charleston are a fallback exit worth pricing as a DSCR refinance.

What happens after you apply

Apply once and the whole Charleston loan lives in the borrower portal: the term sheet you can accept and sign in the browser, where the loan stands, one place for documents, and the list of what the lender is still waiting on. These are real screens from the portal.

Capital Kings borrower portal: Welcome to your file
Welcome to your fileSign in and the term sheet is waiting, with every fee and who it goes to.
Capital Kings borrower portal: Where the loan stands
Where the loan standsApplication, appraisal, title, underwriting, clear to close.
Capital Kings borrower portal: Run the deal again
Run the deal againThe analyzer priced off your real numbers, before and after the appraisal.
Capital Kings borrower portal: What the lender still needs
What the lender still needsEvery open condition, what clears it, and who it is waiting on.

The full walkthrough is on how it works, and you can tour the borrower portal before you apply.

What we fund in Charleston

Fix and flip

10%down on a first flip
Rates
from 8.99% at 760+ credit
With experience
0% down with 2+ completed flips, purchase plus rehab under 70% of ARV
Rehab
100% funded, paid in draws
Fix and flip loans in West Virginia →

Rental (DSCR)

7.00%rates from, 30-year fixed
Qualify on
the rent, no W-2s or tax returns
Down
from 20% at 700+ credit
Good for
buy-and-hold, and the refinance when a flip becomes a rental
DSCR loans in West Virginia →

New construction

95%of cost with a financed interest reserve, after 1 completed build
Rates
from 8.49% with 5+ completed builds
First build
85% of cost with a GC who has 5+ builds
Builds
single family to small multifamily
New construction loans in West Virginia →

Where we lend in Charleston

We broker deals across the whole Charleston market. The submarkets investors ask us about most are Kanawha City (25304), East End (25311), South Hills (25314), West Side and Edgewood (25302 / 25387), North Charleston (25312) and Spring Hill (25309).

How long does a Charleston loan take to fund?

You send the address, purchase price, rehab budget and your ARV, which takes about five minutes and no credit pull. We take it to the lenders in our network that fit it and are licensed in West Virginia, and the rate, origination, leverage and cash to close come back side by side. 5-14 days to fund. We stay on title and the lender through funding.

Charleston hard money FAQ

Do you lend hard money in Charleston?
Yes. Capital Kings is a broker, not a direct lender, so we shop your Charleston scenario across a 400+ lender network and bring back real terms instead of one lender’s rate sheet. The programs on this page are the ones whose lenders are licensed in West Virginia, and the numbers come from the same engine that prices our instant term sheet.
Which fix and flip programs apply in Charleston?
As of October 2026: Best Rate (15% down, from 8.99%); First Flip, 10% Down (10% down, from 9.99%); 7.5% Down, 3+ Flips (7.5% down, from 9.99%, 3+ completed flips); 5% Down, 5+ Flips (5% down, from 9.99%, 5+ completed flips); 100% Financing, 2+ Flips (100% financing when purchase plus rehab fits under 70% of ARV, from 9.50%, 2+ completed flips). Rehab is funded 100 percent in draws on every one of them, and we shop the file against the rest of the network before anything is signed.
How fast can a Charleston hard money loan close?
Most Charleston fix and flip files fund in 5-14 days once the file is complete. The First Flip, 10% Down program and the 7.5% Down, 3+ Flips program close in 21-30 days. The biggest delays are usually title issues or missing borrower documents, so getting those started early makes a big difference.
How much do I need to bring to close on a Charleston flip?
The worked example on this page is a $120,000 Charleston purchase with a $45,000 rehab and a $235,000 after repair value at 700 credit, first flip: $18,000 down (15% of the purchase) and $29,567 total cash to close, with $50,042 of proof of funds to show the lender. The lowest down payment for a first flip in Charleston is 10% down from 9.99% at 660+ credit. Investors with a track record can go to 0% down (100% financing) from 9.50% at 620+ credit with 2+ completed flips, when purchase plus rehab fits under 70% of ARV, and you still bring the closing costs in cash. Rehab is funded 100 percent through draws in every case. Run your own numbers in the calculator above, or send us the deal and we will price it.
Do you fund the rehab budget in Charleston?
Yes, 100 percent of the rehab is funded, but it is a holdback released in draws rather than cash at closing. You pay for each phase, request a draw, an inspector verifies the work, and the lender reimburses. That means you need working capital to float the first phase, which is the single most common thing new investors miss on their first deal.
What credit score do I need for a Charleston fix and flip loan?
The lowest credit floor among the Charleston programs is 620, on 100% financing (under 70% of ARV) with 2+ completed flips. A first flip needs 660 or higher. The lowest rate here, 8.99%, needs 760+ credit. Depending on the program, rates step down at 760 credit and origination steps down at 700 and 740. Credit matters less here than on a conventional loan because the deal carries the file, but it moves your rate and your leverage, so know where you stand before you make offers.
Can I refinance a Charleston flip into a rental loan?
Yes. That is the BRRRR exit, and it is the most common way a Charleston flip becomes a hold. A DSCR loan qualifies on the property’s rental income rather than your W-2, so once the rehab is done and it is leased, you refinance out of the short-term hard money loan into 30-year financing. Worth deciding before you start, because it changes what finish level makes sense.
Can I get a first-flip hard money loan in Charleston, WV?
Yes, and this page’s worked example is one. In West Virginia a first flip can be priced at 15% down with 700+ credit (from 8.99%) or 10% down with 660+ credit (from 9.99%). Change your credit and experience in the calculator and it shows what applies to you.
What should I check on a Charleston hillside house before buying?
Look at the retaining walls, the yard grade and the lower level. Cracked or leaning walls, a wet basement after rain and soil moving toward the house are all signs of a slip or drainage problem, and those repairs can cost more than the kitchen. Get a contractor or engineer to look at the slope if anything seems off, and put the fix in the rehab budget up front.
Micah Foster
Micah Foster
Founder & CEO, Capital Kings LLC
Micah brokers Non-QM and hard money loans for real estate investors across 38 states from his base in Texas. He founded Capital Kings to give investors a broker who shops the market on their behalf instead of pitching one lender product.

What to read before you sign a term sheet

Hard money near Charleston: Huntington and Columbus. More West Virginia city guides: Morgantown, Parkersburg and Wheeling. Or see everything we fund in West Virginia.

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