Fix & Flip Loans: Purchase and Rehab, One Loan, Flip Speed
A flip is a race between your renovation and your carrying costs. Fix-and-flip financing is built for that race — asset-based approval, the rehab budget inside the loan, and closings measured in days and weeks, not months.
2 minutes · No documents · No tax returns
By OneMoreDoor Capital Team · Updated
Flipping is a margin business run on a clock. Every week of carrying cost — interest, taxes, insurance, utilities — comes out of the same spread your rehab is trying to create. Fix-and-flip financing exists because conventional lending is structurally wrong for that race: too slow to win the purchase, blind to the property's after-repair value, and unwilling to fund the renovation that creates the profit. This loan is built the other way around.
What is a fix and flip loan?
A fix and flip loan is short-term, asset-based financing that funds the purchase and the rehab budget in one loan, sized against the project — including its after-repair value (ARV) — rather than your personal income. It's a business-purpose loan for investors: approval runs on the deal, the scope of work, and your plan, and the term is matched to a project timeline instead of a 30-year hold.
How the rehab draw process works
The rehab budget doesn't arrive as a lump sum — it's released as the work gets done:
Close with an approved scope of work
Your renovation budget, itemized by stage, is underwritten with the loan — it becomes the draw schedule.
Complete a stage, request a draw
Finish the roof, the kitchen, the systems — then request the funds for that completed line item.
Inspection confirms the work
A quick site inspection (increasingly a photo/video walkthrough) verifies completion, and the draw funds — typically within days.
Repeat to the finish line
Draws continue stage by stage until the scope is complete and the property is ready for its exit: sale, or refinance into a rental loan.
What do you need to qualify?
The file is project-shaped, not paycheck-shaped:
- The deal — purchase price, rehab budget, and a credible ARV supported by comps
- A scope of work — the itemized renovation plan that becomes your draw schedule
- Cash to close — down payment and reserves; leverage scales with experience and deal strength
- Credit and background — reviewed, but the asset and the plan carry the file
- An entity — fix & flip loans close in your LLC as standard practice
No tax returns, no DTI worksheet — the same business-purpose logic as DSCR lending, pointed at a shorter clock.
Fix & flip loan vs. DSCR loan
| Fix & flip loan | DSCR loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Buy, renovate, exit | Buy or refinance, hold and rent |
| Term | Months, project-length | 30-year rental financing |
| Sized against | Purchase + rehab, with ARV in view | Value and the rent’s coverage ratio |
| Funds renovation | Yes | No |
| Qualifies on rent | No | Yes |
| Natural exit | Sale — or refinance into a DSCR loan | The hold itself |
The two products are teammates, not rivals: the flip loan creates the value, and when you'd rather keep the door than sell it, the DSCR refinance is the exit — the BRRRR cycle in two loans.
Who this is for
Flippers running their next project, BRRRR investors who renovate to hold, auction and off-market buyers who need to close like cash, and investors converting tired properties into rent-ready ones. If the plan is heavier than a renovation — ground-up on a vacant lot — that's new construction financing instead; if there's no rehab at all and the race is purely speed, look at a bridge loan.
Fix & flip loans are business-purpose loans on non-owner-occupied investment property. If you or a family member will live in the property — including moving in after the renovation — this is the wrong product, and we'll tell you so.
Run your flip's numbers
Purchase price, rehab budget, ARV — see how the deal pencils and what the financing looks like. No tax returns involved.
2 minutes · No documents · No tax returns
Can I get a fix and flip loan on my first flip?
Yes — first-project programs exist, and a strong deal carries real weight. Experience affects pricing and leverage more than eligibility: lenders scale terms with your track record, so flip one is financeable and flip five is financeable on better numbers. Bring the deal and the rehab plan; that's the conversation.
Do I need a general contractor, or can I self-manage the rehab?
Programs vary. Licensed-GC requirements are common on heavier scopes, while cosmetic projects often allow investor-managed rehab — and experienced investor-builders can qualify to run their own. The scope of work drives the answer, so we match the project's heaviness to programs that permit your management plan.
Do I pay interest on the whole rehab budget from day one?
Usually not. Many programs charge interest only on funds as they're drawn, so the undrawn rehab budget isn't costing you from closing — but some price on the full balance. It's a real difference in carrying cost on a six-month project, and it's one of the first terms we compare across programs for you.
What happens if my flip takes longer than the loan term?
Extensions are a normal part of the product — typically granted in short increments for a fee, provided the project is progressing and payments are current. The better plan is margin: build timeline cushion into your underwriting from the start, and flag delays early so the extension is arranged before it's urgent.
Can I keep the property instead of selling it?
Yes — that's the BRRRR play, and it's built into how we structure the exit. Instead of selling, you refinance the stabilized property into a long-term DSCR loan qualified on its new rent, pull your capital back out, and keep the door. Tell us the intended exit up front and the whole file gets built around it.
Ready to run your deal?
Tell us the property, the rent, and the plan — your DSCR computed on the spot, options priced on the property's cash flow.
2 minutes · No documents · No tax returns