FCTD has a minimum loan amount of $150,000 and will not consider a $20,000 hard money second mortgage. Smaller loans are often more time-consuming, because smaller denomination borrowers typically haven’t used a hard money loan before and will need more time and attention than an experienced real estate investor with 20+ years of hard money loan experience.
Over the past few years, FCTD’s average loan amount has been $1 million. Our clients are accustomed to the pricing and short-term nature of hard money bridge loans. The process is usually simple for us as lenders, and for our borrower clients.
To the contrary, first-time hard money borrowers are entering an entirely new lending experience, where the costs are higher, the loan term shorter (usually 12 months), and the terminology new. First-time hard money borrowers will need to learn how a hard money loan works — which is perfectly normal when approaching a transaction type for the first time.
Small loans, like a $20,000 hard money second mortgage request, are too far outside our area of focus to facilitate. FCTD's core business is quickly brokering bigger loans for experienced real estate investors. The smaller loan requests don't fit into our model and aren't a good use of our time. These borrowers can be better served through alternative second mortgage financing options like banks, credit unions, online lenders, or family and friends.