Broker, not a lenderHard Money Lenders inColumbus, Ohio
Fix and flip, DSCR rental and new construction financing for Columbus 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.
Prefer to talk it through? Call or text Micah at (281) 636-5682.
What you get working with us
Price a Columbus deal right now
Prefilled with a realistic Columbus deal. Change any number and it reprices instantly on the lanes licensed in Ohio, using the same engine behind our term sheets.
Financing a deal in Columbus
Columbus is the growth market of Ohio, a state capital with Ohio State, a deep insurance and banking workforce, and a population that has kept climbing while the rest of the state held flat. For a flipper that means real resale demand but not bargain pricing. The houses that work are the 1920s through 1950s doubles, bungalows and Cape Cods on the Hilltop, in Linden, on the South Side and around Driving Park, where a full renovation still lands under what the suburbs charge for new.
The thing that decides a Columbus flip right now is a flattening market after years of steep gains. Prices citywide barely moved over the past year and Zillow’s index is slightly down, so the ARV you can defend is today’s closed sales, not the 2022 trend line. Hilltop and Linden also have a lot of investor supply finishing at the same time, and the finished house competes with other flips down the block. Buy at a discount you could live with if the resale comes in flat, and let the kitchen and bath do the selling rather than square footage you can’t add.
What a Columbus deal looks like on paper
Columbus example: $130,000 purchase, $50,000 rehab, $245,000 after repair value, 730 credit, first flip. The engine puts that borrower on the Best Rate program at 9.49%. Say a 1940s Cape Cod on the Hilltop in 43204 that needs a kitchen, a bath, a furnace and a basement cleanup. Every number below is what the instant term sheet prints for that deal, so the picture cannot contradict the page.
- Down payment (15%)You$19,500
- Origination (0.5%)Lender$2,000
- Doc prepLender$749
- Broker fee (1%)Broker$2,000
- Title and closingTitle$3,129
- Prepaid interest (15 days)Lender$626
- Property insuranceInsurer$1,710
- AppraisalAppraiser$550
Interest while you rehab: $874 a month on the $110,500 funded at closing, $1,269 once every draw is out. Proof of funds is cash to close plus $13,500 of rehab reserve and $7,616 of interest reserve. Sample borrower, sample address; the sheet is issued by the same engine as the borrower’s instant term sheet.
What we can fund in Columbus
| Program | Down payment | Min credit | Experience | Rate | Origination | Max loan | Term | Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Rate | 15% | 700+ | First flip OK | 8.99% to 9.49% | 0.5% | 75% of ARV | 12 months | 14 days |
| 5% Down, 3+ Flips1 | 5% | 600+ | 3+ completed flips | 11.00% to 12.00% | 2% | 75% of ARV | 12 months | 7-14 days |
| 5% Down, 5+ Flips2 | 5% | 660+ | 5+ completed flips | 9.99% to 10.99% | 2% | 75% of ARV | 9-24 months | 10-14 days |
| Fastest Close (3 days) | 10% | No minimum | First flip OK | 11.99% | 2% | 75% of ARV | 6 months | 72 hours |
- Origination steps down with experience: 1.5% at 5+ deals, 1% at 8+.
- Rate is set per file from 9.99%; origination about 2% plus a $995 processing fee.
Origination has a $2,000 minimum on every program and the broker fee is 1% with a $2,000 minimum. These are the numbers the instant term sheet uses as of September 2026. Strong credit, cash and a track record can price lower through specific lenders in the network.
What the Columbus comps say
Redfin puts the Columbus median sale price at $300,000 for the three months ending August 2026, up 0.6% from a year earlier, with homes selling in about 42 days. Zillow’s home value index for the city is $247,002, down 1.0% over the year. On the Hilltop in 43204, where our example sits, Redfin’s median is $214,000 and homes take about 49 days to sell.
| Median sale price, Columbus (Redfin, 3 months to Aug 2026) | $300,000 |
| Days on market, Columbus (Redfin) | 42 |
| Zillow home value index, Columbus (Aug 2026) | $247,002 |
| Median sale price, 43204 Hilltop (Redfin) | $214,000 |
| Days on market, 43204 (Redfin) | 49 |
Sources: Redfin, Columbus housing market · Zillow, Columbus home values · Redfin, 43204 housing market
How a Columbus file actually gets priced
Franklin County appraisers comp tightly by neighborhood, and in Columbus the neighborhood lines often follow the freeways: west of I-270 is a different market from the Hilltop inside it, and Olde Towne East prices nothing like the blocks across I-70. We pull closed sales from the last 90 days inside the same area, weight them toward flips of the same vintage, and ask whether a comp was investor-finished or owner-updated, because appraisers here know the difference. A double (a side-by-side two-family) needs rent comps as well as sale comps, since the buyer is often a house hacker.
Most of the Columbus flip stock has a basement, and the basement is where the budget surprises live: bowed block walls, old clay tile drains, water in spring. Franklinton sits behind the Scioto floodwall, but flood insurance and the flood map still matter on the low streets there and along Alum Creek. Structural, electrical, plumbing and mechanical work needs permits through the city’s Building and Zoning Services. German Village, Italian Village and Victorian Village each have their own architectural review commission, so any exterior work in those districts waits for approval before it starts.
Who buys your finished Columbus deal
The Columbus exit buyer is usually a first-time buyer on an FHA or conventional loan who works downtown, at Ohio State or in the hospital systems, and who has already been priced out of Clintonville and the older suburbs. They want central air, a finished bath upstairs and a dry basement. Doubles near campus and in Olde Towne East can sell to a house hacker or hold as a rental with a DSCR loan. The big Intel fab out in New Albany has been delayed, so price the exit on today’s buyers, not the jobs that were promised.
Your whole loan, in one portal
Apply once and the whole Columbus 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.
What we fund in Columbus
Fix & Flip
Purchase plus 100% of rehab, released in draws. The core product in Columbus.
DSCR Rental
Qualifies on the property’s rent, not your W-2. The usual exit when a flip becomes a hold, and the long-term financing on a BRRRR.
New Construction
Ground-up for builders and infill developers, with a draw schedule matched to the build timeline.
Where we lend in Columbus
We broker deals across the whole Columbus market. These are the submarkets investors ask us about most:
From deal to funded
Send the deal
Address, purchase price, rehab budget and your ARV. Three minutes, no credit pull.
We shop it
Your scenario goes to the lenders in our network that actually fit it and are licensed in Ohio, not all 400 at once.
Real terms back
Rate, origination, leverage and cash to close side by side, so you can compare on total cost.
Close
7 to 10 days typical. We stay on title and the lender through funding.
Columbus hard money FAQ
Do you lend hard money in Columbus?
Which fix and flip programs apply in Columbus?
How fast can a Columbus hard money loan close?
How much do I need to bring to close on a Columbus flip?
Do you fund the rehab budget in Columbus?
What credit score do I need for a Columbus fix and flip loan?
Can I refinance a Columbus flip into a rental loan?
Can a first-time flipper get a hard money loan in Columbus?
Is the Hilltop a good place to flip in Columbus?
Before you sign anything
Ready to fund your Columbus deal?
Submit your scenario in under 3 minutes. We shop it and come back with real terms, not a generic rate sheet.