I just recently purchased an investment condo out of foreclosure (have three other there already)  however, I had to use hard money to acquire the property to the tune of 18% over a year and a half with a balloon payment at the end.  I can manage the loan, but I really want to find a better option.  Payments have not started yet.  Where should I look first?

Hi David,

Well, the cheapest option aside from a bank is usually private money. Parents, siblings, aunts or uncles, friends, etc. You might be able to find something under 10% and if they know you, then your personal credit might not matter if the numbers work. Just be careful about who you talk to so you don't break any SEC rules about investment solicitations.

Depending on the amount you need, even a credit card might be cheaper if the math works out. Just be cautious of that approach as fees and special deals could expire and you'll be in at 20%+.

Good luck.

@Michael Fitts Mine was through a personal friend, however when I've been looking to refinance it, I found plenty of ads on Craigslist and I contacted 4 or five people there.  The difficulty I was having is that many of them wanted to loan minimums of 50 to 100k and all I needed was 17k. I did find one that was willing to help and reduced my interest rate by 4 points, however when all of the fees were added they loans were basically equivalent.  Best of luck.