How to tell a real one from a costly one — the red flags, how to verify a licence in two minutes, whether "near me" actually matters, and the ten questions to ask before you send anybody a penny.
Ask, and ask for the answer in writing. Online the two look identical — a great many brokers present themselves as lenders — and the difference changes your cost and your certainty.
Funds the loan with its own capital and controls the timeline. No intermediary markup, which typically saves one to two percent. If you already know their rates, turnaround and appetite, funding can be very fast. The trade-off is a single set of terms — you see one lender's answer, not the market's.
Places your file with lenders and is paid for doing it. Worth it when the deal is unusual, when one lender's guidelines would decline something another would fund, or when you do not have time to approach six lenders yourself. The risk is a broker who promises financing without having final say on approval.
Every one of these appears repeatedly in lender-fraud warnings. Any single one is a reason to slow down.
One more, and it says something about culture rather than fraud: a lender who declines you purely for being new, on a deal with strong numbers. Good lenders price inexperience. They do not refuse to look at it.
If real money is going out before closing, have a solicitor read the documents first. Fraudulent lenders use paperwork that is enforceable once signed, and recovering an upfront fee afterwards is close to impossible.
Less than people assume, and more than nothing.
Where local helps: a lender who knows your market prices it more accurately, because they have seen what actually sells in those streets and how long it took. On an unusual property or a thin market, that knowledge is worth real money.
Where it does not: the loan is secured on the property, not on proximity to an office. National lenders fund across state lines every day, and a national programme with the right guidelines beats a local one whose box your deal does not fit.
What actually matters is that a named person is accountable for your file and answers the phone. "Local" is a proxy for that, and a poor one. Ask instead who is handling your loan, and whether you will be speaking to that person or to a queue.
Any lender worth using answers all ten without hesitating. Ours would.
Verify the licence on the state regulator's public register, ask for three recent comparable closings and references you can ring, and require every cost in writing before you commit. A quote that will not be documented is the clearest warning sign there is.
Direct removes an intermediary markup of roughly one to two percent and can be faster if you already know them. A broker is worth it when the deal is unusual, when different lenders' guidelines would produce different answers, or when you do not have time to approach several yourself. Ask which one you are dealing with and get it in writing.
It is a trade-off, and we would rather state it than obscure it. You pay for placement; in return your deal goes to the lender whose guidelines actually fit it rather than to the only lender you happened to call.
Generally no. Legitimate lenders collect at closing. Substantial sums demanded before anyone has committed is the commonest pattern in lending fraud, and money paid up front is rarely recovered.
Usually not. The loan is secured on the property. Local knowledge genuinely helps price an unusual property or a thin market, but a national programme with the right guidelines beats a nearby lender whose criteria your deal does not meet.
Seven days or fewer on a clean file is normal, and some fund faster. A lender requesting bank-style documentation and taking weeks is not offering what you came for.
Anything you have not read, anything a solicitor has not seen if substantial money leaves your hands before closing, and any document whose terms differ from the verbal quote you were given.
Answer these and we will tell you whether it is fundable, on what terms, and how fast it could close. Investment property only — we do not lend on a home you will live in.
We will run the numbers and come back to you. If it is time-sensitive, call 903-636-7511.
Dominion Hard Money arranges private and asset-based real estate financing for business purposes only. Not a commitment to lend. All loans subject to underwriting, property review, and approval. Terms vary by property, borrower experience, and exit strategy.