01
Fix & Flip Financing
How purchase price, rehab budget, after-repair value, experience, and exit strategy work together.
- Understanding rehab financing
- Building a realistic scope of work
- Planning reserves and carrying costs
Investor Learning Center
Better financing decisions start with better information.
Clear, practical guidance for real estate investors—without the jargon, pressure, or one-size-fits-all answers.
Featured guide
100% financing is about leverage—not having no money.
When a financing structure covers the purchase and renovation costs, the investor can preserve capital for reserves, closing costs, carrying costs, and additional opportunities.
Without strategic leverageMore capital tied up in one project
With strategic leverageWorking capital available to keep growing
That does not mean the investor needs no money. Strong liquidity, adequate reserves, a sound project, and a responsible exit plan still matter. The goal is to deploy capital intelligently—not to enter a project unprepared.
Discuss a 100% financing scenarioCore guides
Know the numbers behind the loan.
Learn how we evaluate an investment property and how our loan programs may apply to your situation.
02
DSCR Rental Loans
How a rental property’s income can support qualification without relying on traditional personal-income underwriting.
- What DSCR measures
- Rent, taxes, insurance, and payments
- Purchase versus refinance
03
LTC, LTV & LTARV
Three leverage measurements that explain how much of the cost, current value, or completed value may be financed.
- Loan-to-cost
- Loan-to-value
- Loan-to-after-repair value
04
Land + Manufactured Home
How land ownership, home delivery, installation, site work, and construction draws can fit into one investor loan.
- Using land equity
- Dealer and setup costs
- How funds are released
Fix & Flip basics
What is a Fix & Flip loan?
A Fix & Flip loan is short-term, business-purpose financing used to purchase and renovate an investment property. The investor improves the property and usually exits by selling it or refinancing it into a longer-term rental loan.
How the financing works
The initial portion of the loan helps fund the property purchase. Approved renovation money is normally held back and released during construction rather than handed to the borrower all at once.
Why we require a rehab budget
The budget tells us exactly what work will be completed, how much each item should cost, and whether the planned improvements support the expected after-repair value. It also establishes the schedule used to release renovation funds.
What the investor still needs
Even when purchase and eligible rehab costs are fully financed, investors may still need money for closing costs, interest, insurance, utilities, reserves, and expenses that are not approved in the renovation budget.
Budgets and draws
Why our budget formats can vary by program.
Different BearCrest loan programs use different underwriting, inspection, and draw requirements. One program may accept a room-by-room budget while another requires every labor and material cost on its own line.
Create the scope
List every planned repair or improvement, including labor, materials, quantities, and estimated cost. The total should match the actual construction plan—not simply the amount the borrower wants to finance.
Use the required BearCrest format
We may transfer the same project information into the template required for your specific loan program. The categories and layout may change, but the scope and total costs should remain consistent.
Use it for draws
A draw is a reimbursement or release of approved renovation funds after work is completed and verified. You request a draw, an inspection confirms the work, and we release eligible funds according to the loan’s draw process.
Rental-loan basics
What is a DSCR loan?
A DSCR loan is long-term financing for an income-producing property. Instead of qualifying mainly from your salary or tax returns, we focus on whether the property’s qualifying rent can support its housing payment.
What DSCR measures
DSCR compares qualifying monthly rent with the property’s monthly principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and applicable association dues. A ratio of 1.00 means the qualifying rent equals the housing payment.
What changes the ratio
Higher rent can improve DSCR. A higher interest rate, taxes, insurance, association dues, or loan amount can reduce it. Depending on the program, we may use a lease, an appraiser’s market-rent estimate, or the lower of the two.
Purchase, refinance, or cash-out
DSCR financing may be used to buy a rental, replace an existing loan, or access equity. Available leverage, credit requirements, reserves, rates, and prepayment terms vary by program.
A simple example
$2,500 rent ÷ $2,200 housing payment = 1.14 DSCR
The property produces about 14% more qualifying rent than its required monthly housing payment. This is only an illustration; the eligible rent and expenses depend on the BearCrest program selected for the property.
Our DSCR financing options
- Qualifying purchases up to 85% loan-to-value
- Select options beginning around a 620 credit score
- Purchase, rate-and-term refinance, and eligible cash-out
- Options for long-term and select short-term rentals
What we still review
- Property value, condition, and market rent
- Credit history, liquidity, and required reserves
- Taxes, insurance, HOA dues, and proposed payment
- Property type, title, lease, and ownership entity
No traditional income documents does not mean no underwriting. A DSCR loan may avoid personal-income qualification with pay stubs, W-2s, or tax returns, but the property and borrower still must meet our program guidelines. Higher leverage or a lower credit score can affect the rate, reserves, DSCR requirement, and prepayment terms.
Specialty investor program
How Land + Manufactured Home financing works.
This short-term, business-purpose financing can bring the land, a new manufactured home, delivery, installation, and eligible site work into one coordinated project. It is designed for real estate investors—not for an owner-occupied home purchase.
Land purchase or land already owned
Qualifying transactions may finance up to 80% of the land purchase. If the investor already owns the land, verified land equity may satisfy some—or potentially all—of the required contribution, which can create an eligible little- or no-cash-at-closing structure.
Home order, delivery, and installation
The authorized dealer or licensed contractor provides an itemized agreement showing the home, deposit, delivery, installation, and setup costs. The approved dealer deposit may be funded at closing, with later payments tied to delivery and project milestones.
Site work and construction draws
Eligible costs such as site preparation, foundation or setup, utilities, septic, access, and exterior improvements may be funded through draws after approved work is documented and inspected.
Already own the land?Your existing equity may reduce the money needed at closing. BearCrest will review the land value, current liens, completed value, and total project budget to determine whether a no-cash-at-closing opportunity is available.
Discuss your project Plain-language definitions
Five numbers every investor should understand.
Different programs limit the loan using different measurements. The lowest permitted calculation often controls the final loan amount.
- ARV
- After-repair value: the estimated market value after the planned renovation is completed.
- LTC
- Loan-to-cost: the loan amount divided by the total project cost, normally purchase plus eligible renovation costs.
- LTV
- Loan-to-value: the loan amount divided by the property’s current value or purchase value, depending on the transaction and program.
- LTARV
- Loan-to-after-repair value: the total loan amount divided by the expected value after renovations are completed.
- DSCR
- Debt-service coverage ratio: qualifying property income divided by its required housing payment.
Your next step
Bring us the opportunity. We’ll help you understand the path.
Tell us about the property, your plan, and what you are trying to accomplish.
Start your application