Every hard money lender advertises leverage. Walk down the list and you’ll see the same numbers: 90% of purchase, sometimes 92.5%, a rehab holdback if the deal is clean. Somewhere in the fine print, the cash you’ll need at closing starts stacking up.
Our program goes further. For experienced operators, DayOne funds up to 100% of cost: the full purchase price and the full rehab budget. We funded one exactly like that in June, a single-family flip in Marysville where we covered 100% of the $120,000 purchase and 100% of the $75,000 renovation. Here’s how the program actually works, the guardrail that keeps it safe, and what it takes to qualify.
What 100% LTC actually means
LTC is loan-to-cost: the loan measured against what the project costs, purchase price plus rehab budget. 100% LTC means the loan covers all of it. On the Marysville deal, total project cost was $195,000. The loan was $195,000.
Two things to be straight about, because this is where lenders get cute and borrowers get burned.
It’s not “no money in the deal.” You still cover closing costs, origination points, insurance, and the monthly interest carry. And rehab capital comes through draws: you front each stage of work and get reimbursed as it’s completed and verified. 100% LTC means your cash isn’t locked into the purchase or trapped in the rehab budget for months. It doesn’t mean you show up with nothing.
It’s not for every deal. The loan still has to clear our value guardrail, which is the next section. A thin deal doesn’t become fundable at higher leverage. It becomes riskier.
The guardrail: 75% of ARV
Here’s the structure that makes 100% LTC work: the loan cannot exceed 75% of the after-repair value.
Run the Marysville numbers. Total cost, and the loan: $195,000. After-repair value: $275,000. That puts the loan at roughly 71% of ARV, inside the guardrail. The borrower gets every dollar of cost funded, and the deal still carries a 29% equity cushion protecting everyone if the market moves or the budget slips.
The guardrail is also why 100% LTC only fits deals with real margin. If that same house cost $195,000 all-in but was only worth $240,000 finished, 75% of ARV is $180,000, and the loan sizes down to that number. The math is the math. Deep discounts to value get full funding. Thin deals get less leverage, or a pass, and we’ll tell you which one straight.
If you want to pressure-test your own numbers first, the Deal Analyzer runs this exact math on any Ohio deal.
Who qualifies, and who doesn’t yet
100% LTC is reserved for experienced operators with a proven track record. On this program we underwrite you as much as the deal: flips you’ve exited, BRRRRs you’ve refinanced, rentals you operate. We’re looking for people who have taken a renovation from the closing table to a clean exit before, because at full leverage, execution is the collateral behind the collateral.
If you’re earlier in your investing career, you’re not out. You start at lower leverage and earn your way up. Our Sandusky borrower was a first-time flipper: we funded her at 90% LTC, walked her through every step, and she sold above asking five months later. Her next deal prices differently, because now she has a track record.
The path up is boring, and it works: bring honest numbers, execute the scope, respond fast, exit clean. Leverage follows execution.
The Marysville deal, start to finish
It’s worth walking through, because it shows the program doing exactly what it’s designed to do.
An experienced operator submitted the deal through our website: a 3-bed, 2-bath single-family in Marysville, northwest of Columbus, a 1900-built house with solid bones in one of the fastest-growing corridors of the metro. Purchase at $120,000, a real itemized $75,000 renovation plan, and a defensible $275,000 ARV.
The track record supported full leverage and the value supported the loan, so we funded 100% of both sides: $195,000 in total project cost, with rehab capital releasing in draws as each phase of work completes. The renovation is underway now, and the operator’s cash is free for the next opportunity instead of buried in this one. The full case study is here, numbers included.
Why most lenders won’t do this
National lenders cap out at 90 to 93% of cost, and it’s not because they’re timid. It’s because their underwriting can’t price what actually makes a specific deal safe: whether the operator finishes what they start, whether that block in that town supports the ARV, whether the rehab budget is real. An algorithm can’t see any of that, so it protects itself with a leverage cap and an appraisal file.
We’re Ohio investors underwriting Ohio deals. We can look at the operator, the numbers, and the street, and make a judgment call. That’s the entire reason a boutique lender can offer terms the national platforms can’t.
The short version
100% LTC is real, and it’s earned. The deal needs genuine margin (the loan stays inside 75% of ARV), and the operator needs a track record that says the plan will get executed. If that’s you, send us the deal. You’ll get a straight answer on the leverage it supports, usually the same day, with no hard credit pull.
Not there yet? Start where our Sandusky borrower did: one solid deal at honest leverage, executed well. We’ll grow the terms with you.