Hard Money Lenders in Columbus, OH | Capital Kings LLC
Capital Kings LLC · Non-QM Mortgage Broker

Hard 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.

Get a term sheet →Price a Columbus deal

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

Reviewed by Micah Foster, Founder & CEO, September 2026

Price a Columbus deal right now

Prefilled with a realistic Columbus deal. Change any number and it reprices on the programs that lend in Ohio, 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 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, 700 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.

Loan amount$160,500
Cash to close$31,309
Proof of funds to show$52,425
Where the $31,309 goes
  • Down payment (15% of the purchase)You$19,500
  • 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$3,129
  • Prepaid interest (15 days)Lender$431
  • 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.

Fix and flip programs in Columbus

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
Fastest Close (3 days)10% of purchaseNo minimumFirst flip OK11.99%2%75% of ARV6 months72 hours
  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 Columbus prices sit right now

Before we price a Columbus 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 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.

What happens after you apply

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.

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 Columbus

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 Ohio →

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 Ohio →

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 Ohio →

Where we lend in Columbus

We broker deals across the whole Columbus market. The submarkets investors ask us about most are Hilltop and Westgate (43204 / 43223), Linden (43211), Near East and Olde Towne East (43203 / 43205), Franklinton (43222), South Side and Merion Village (43206 / 43207), Driving Park (43205 / 43206), Northland (43224 / 43229) and Clintonville (43214).

How long does a Columbus 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 Ohio, and the rate, origination, leverage and cash to close come back side by side. 5-14 days to fund, as little as 72 hours on the fastest programs. We stay on title and the lender through funding.

Columbus hard money FAQ

Do you lend hard money in Columbus?
Yes. Capital Kings is a broker, not a direct lender, so we shop your Columbus 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 Ohio, and the numbers come from the same engine that prices our instant term sheet.
Which fix and flip programs apply in Columbus?
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); Fastest Close (3 days) (10% down, from 11.99%). 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 Columbus hard money loan close?
As little as 72 hours. Most Columbus fix and flip files fund in 5-14 days once the file is complete, and the 72-hour programs close that fast when title and insurance are ready. 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 Columbus flip?
The worked example on this page is a $130,000 Columbus purchase with a $50,000 rehab and a $245,000 after repair value at 700 credit, first flip: $19,500 down (15% of the purchase) and $31,309 total cash to close, with $52,425 of proof of funds to show the lender. The lowest down payment for a first flip in Columbus 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 Columbus?
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 Columbus fix and flip loan?
One Columbus program has no credit floor at all, it is priced on speed rather than credit. 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 Columbus flip into a rental loan?
Yes. That is the BRRRR exit, and it is the most common way a Columbus 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 a first-time flipper get a hard money loan in Columbus?
Yes, and the example on this page is set for a first deal. In Ohio a first flip can be priced at 15% down with 700+ credit (from 8.99%), 10% down with 660+ credit (from 9.99%) or 10% down with no credit minimum on the fastest-close program (from 11.99%). Programs that need completed flips: 7.5% down from 9.99% with 3+ flips; 5% down from 9.99% with 5+ flips; and 100% financing from 9.50% with 2+ flips when purchase plus rehab fits under 70% of ARV. The programs table shows what applies at your credit and experience, and the calculator updates as you change them.
Is the Hilltop a good place to flip in Columbus?
It can be, because entry prices are lower than most of the city and the housing is solid brick and frame from the 1920s through the 50s. The catch is supply: a lot of investors are finishing houses there at once, and days on market in 43204 run longer than the city overall. Budget for a longer sale, finish to the street rather than above it, and have a rental exit priced in case the resale stalls.
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 Columbus: Dayton, Cincinnati and Cleveland. More Ohio city guides: Akron and Toledo. Or see everything we fund in Ohio.

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