Have you heard of house flipping? It is a term that has become more popular in part because of T.V. episodes that show exactly what it entails, albeit with better editing than real life. Commercial real estate investing is not as easy as these shows make it seem. What enables people to do so with some success is most often due to having investment property mortgage lenders backing them. In other words, someone else foots the bill. You shouldn’t be discouraged. To find out more about commercial real estate investing basics, read below.

What Are Some Reasons to Invest in Commercial Real Estate?

There are a few reasons real estate is seen as a good investment.

1. Appreciation: Other than the odd bubble bust, property prices rise.
2. Returns: people like that it is a tangible asset.
3. Diversification: Your financial advisor will like that you are diversifying your assets.
4. Inflation hedging.

Are you ready to seek out investment property mortgage lenders? You should know about the funding process first.

So, How Do You Get the Money to Buy Some Land?

As stated in Gone With the Wind, “Land is the only thing worth working for,…because it’s the only thing that lasts.” It seems not many would disagree, as owners of lots of land are generally regarded as very wealthy. Do you have to have money to make money, as the old adage goes? Not always, if you know the right people.

The typical business loan offered by banks has a few requirements: the borrower must have been in the business for at least two years, have great personal and business credit, be cash flow positive, and pull in at least $250,000 annually in revenue. There are plenty of people who fit that requirement, and double that who do not but would still like to buy, renovate, and sell a house for profit. Investment property mortgage lenders, or hard money lenders, can step in.

What is a Hard Money Loan, and Is It Even Legal?

There is nothing wrong with seeking a hard money loan, it is simply that most people would rather deal with a public lender, rather than a private one. The lender is putting up their own money for the house to be fixed up. Renovation lending, as it is sometimes called, follows the simple process of buying a cheap, somewhat run down house, and through renovation dramatically raising the value. These hard money loans are well protected, as the equity on the house must be somewhere between 30 to 50%.

Is real estate investing something that interests you? It is not outside the realm of possibility. Hard money loans are not for everyone. But they do make it much easier for many people to get into house flipping. Who doesn’t want to start making more money, that much faster?