I've been approached by Prem Singh of Prem Singh & Sons, Inc. of NY about funding my flips. He is offering 100% financing at 6%, but the catch is that I have to pay a loan origination fee up front before I can get approval.  This sounds suspicious to me. Anyone have dealings with this lender?

Never heard of them, but you are right to be suspicious. A loan origination fee paid prior to your loan even being approved is a red flag, and something often seen with scammers.

Not to mention that real private lenders are simply not out there randomly approaching strangers on the internet and begging to loan them money at 100% financing and 6% interest, especially when they haven’t even seen the details of the deal yet. That’s just not realistic, or how it really works. 

Originally posted by @Kyle J. :

Never heard of them, but you are right to be suspicious. A loan origination fee paid prior to your loan even being approved is a red flag, and something often seen with scammers.

Not to mention that real private lenders are simply not out there randomly approaching strangers on the internet and begging to loan them money at 100% financing and 6% interest, especially when they haven’t even seen the details of the deal yet. That’s just not realistic, or how it really works. 

Thanks for the advice, Kyle!  That's what I suspected.  I've heard of people paying these up front fees only to get the run around when it comes time for funding, and they never do get the funds. They even sent me a bank statement showing a balance of $13 million on deposit. Even that seems suspicious to me. Even if they had that much in cash, I find it hard to believe that it's all sitting in a bank account, and why would they feel the need to send me "proof" of funds?  Even if it's a legit bank statement that's no guarantee they would send me any of it. 

Originally posted by @Malcolm Ovenden :

Originally posted by @Kyle J.:

Never heard of them, but you are right to be suspicious. A loan origination fee paid prior to your loan even being approved is a red flag, and something often seen with scammers.

Not to mention that real private lenders are simply not out there randomly approaching strangers on the internet and begging to loan them money at 100% financing and 6% interest, especially when they haven’t even seen the details of the deal yet. That’s just not realistic, or how it really works. 

Thanks for the advice, Kyle!  That's what I suspected.  I've heard of people paying these up front fees only to get the run around when it comes time for funding, and they never do get the funds. They even sent me a bank statement showing a balance of $13 million on deposit. Even that seems suspicious to me. Even if they had that much in cash, I find it hard to believe that it's all sitting in a bank account, and why would they feel the need to send me "proof" of funds?  Even if it's a legit bank statement that's no guarantee they would send me any of it.

 

These are simply advanced fee scams ..  6% is less than or equal to the best bank rates you can possibly get right now for flips.. 

And those are full doc  VERY experienced CASHED UP borrowers with lots of cash on deposit at the bank and well known to the bank.

If your an American Greed Fan watch the episode on Remington Financial.. or at the very least Google Ingrid Robinson American greed she has a website dedicated to Advance Fee real Estate scams..   Its a big business and has infected all of social media including Facebook,  Linkdin  and BP  and of course connected Investors they really are prevalent on that site.

Google Lendinghome  they have a nice matrix on how they lend money and the pricing structure  this would be a template for reality on pricing and experience. 

@Malcolm Ovenden I wouldn't send you my bank statements, unless you wanted to see how much my wife spends on amazon and help me stop it,but I do work with multiple commercial lenders,and some require a commitment fee. Some lenders are not going to put their team and their time on a project without knowing you are serious and committed. I will be glad to give you some of my time to help just not during the game this weekend or the super bowl. Go Bills

Originally posted by @David Robinson :

@Malcolm Ovenden I wouldn't send you my bank statements, unless you wanted to see how much my wife spends on amazon and help me stop it,but I do work with multiple commercial lenders,and some require a commitment fee. Some lenders are not going to put their team and their time on a project without knowing you are serious and committed. I will be glad to give you some of my time to help just not during the game this weekend or the super bowl. Go Bills

Fake lenders send these

1. Picture of their personal ID    clue its a fake

2. copy of LLC registration Clue anyone can open an LLC

3. Copy of business license    Clue same as above.

4. bank statements                Clue easy to fake..

I get the advanced fee for large complicated transactions.. but for simple rehab loans on an SFR one simply does not need a team to underwrite those LOL.. and advance fee is not normal at all.

Thanks @Jay Hinrichs and @David Robinson !  I really appreciate your advice, and I'll definitely do some research on Ingrid Robinson and Lendinghome.  I am looking to fund several flips via lease options in the next few weeks, so if either of you can help me with getting legitimate funding I would certain appreciate it! 

 

Malcolm, the red flag to me was he was willing to give me whatever I asked with no further questioning. He then asked me to not involve my business partner in conversation. When asking for further information he didn't really provide contracts. Just a 1 page loan form of which I have attached. This loan form as you will see is just not professional or presentable. I stated to him that the fee he was asking for did not make sense. He got defensive and accused me of not trusting him, he is a good person just trying to help etc. He too sent me his bank account statement. What I found interesting was that the bank account hasn't even been open a month. To top it off wanted a copy of my ID. Nope.