Draw Fees While Rehabbing a House Using Hard Money

Draw Fees While Rehabbing a House Using Hard Money

Rental Property Investor · Smyrna, GA · Member since 2016 · 86 posts · 28 votes

Hey All,

I have gone full time into rehabbing & selling houses over the last year. In that time I've used several different funding options. My own cash, local community banks, & hard money. I've also used GC's to complete full rehab jobs & depending on how much work a house needs and how comfortable I am with the rehab, often times I will sub out the work to different painters, handymen, electricians, plumbers, etc instead of using a GC.

The more I do this the more comfortable I am managing the jobs myself and it often times saves me significant amounts of money on the rehab costs to just sub out the work vs using a GC for the full rehab. With all that being said, I'm hoping to start using sub contractors to handle the majority of my jobs moving forward, but I'm running into a small snag.

The majority of the houses I'm buying right now I'm using hard money to fund. With pretty much every lender I've used they charge a draw fee whenever I pull a construction draw to pay out a contractor. They're typically $150-$300 per draw depending on the lender. This is typically not a huge deal when I'm working with a GC. They're usually fine getting 2 draws throughout the construction project and it just costs me an additional few hundred dollars in fees. However, in working with sub contractors it is going to require more frequent payments to them vs the one or two draws I would request when working with a GC. I'm trying to figure out how to navigate this without increasing the number of draws I'm requesting from the hard money lenders. 1-2 draws/project I can handle. 5+ and that starts to really dig in to the profit margin on a deal. Has anyone navigated this scenario? Any recommendations for how to best handle this? I could, in theory, just keep some money in savings to float these costs, but I'd really rather that money go to buying another property instead of sitting their floating money to pay contractors.

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AJ ExnerPro Member
Lender · Springfield, MO · Member since 2023 · 656 posts · 318 votes
2y
Quote from @Ryan Horne:

Hey All,

I have gone full time into rehabbing & selling houses over the last year. In that time I've used several different funding options. My own cash, local community banks, & hard money. I've also used GC's to complete full rehab jobs & depending on how much work a house needs and how comfortable I am with the rehab, often times I will sub out the work to different painters, handymen, electricians, plumbers, etc instead of using a GC.

The more I do this the more comfortable I am managing the jobs myself and it often times saves me significant amounts of money on the rehab costs to just sub out the work vs using a GC for the full rehab. With all that being said, I'm hoping to start using sub contractors to handle the majority of my jobs moving forward, but I'm running into a small snag.

The majority of the houses I'm buying right now I'm using hard money to fund. With pretty much every lender I've used they charge a draw fee whenever I pull a construction draw to pay out a contractor. They're typically $150-$300 per draw depending on the lender. This is typically not a huge deal when I'm working with a GC. They're usually fine getting 2 draws throughout the construction project and it just costs me an additional few hundred dollars in fees. However, in working with sub contractors it is going to require more frequent payments to them vs the one or two draws I would request when working with a GC. I'm trying to figure out how to navigate this without increasing the number of draws I'm requesting from the hard money lenders. 1-2 draws/project I can handle. 5+ and that starts to really dig in to the profit margin on a deal. Has anyone navigated this scenario? Any recommendations for how to best handle this? I could, in theory, just keep some money in savings to float these costs, but I'd really rather that money go to buying another property instead of sitting their floating money to pay contractors.


Ryan,

I know of a lender that automatically budgets 4 draws into the budget which might save you a little bit on that end, plus they defer the monthly interest payments which might keep you more liquid.

As you get going there are definitely a few options, just shot you a DM and would love to help if I can.

Good luck!

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  • 12 Penns Trail Suite 138 Newtown, PA 18940 · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 319 votes
    2y

    2-5 draws usually on a project . $175-$225 each . Depends on how liquid you are 

  • AJ ExnerPro Member
    Lender · Springfield, MO · Member since 2023 · 656 posts · 318 votes
    2y
    Quote from @Ryan Horne:

    Hey All,

    I have gone full time into rehabbing & selling houses over the last year. In that time I've used several different funding options. My own cash, local community banks, & hard money. I've also used GC's to complete full rehab jobs & depending on how much work a house needs and how comfortable I am with the rehab, often times I will sub out the work to different painters, handymen, electricians, plumbers, etc instead of using a GC.

    The more I do this the more comfortable I am managing the jobs myself and it often times saves me significant amounts of money on the rehab costs to just sub out the work vs using a GC for the full rehab. With all that being said, I'm hoping to start using sub contractors to handle the majority of my jobs moving forward, but I'm running into a small snag.

    The majority of the houses I'm buying right now I'm using hard money to fund. With pretty much every lender I've used they charge a draw fee whenever I pull a construction draw to pay out a contractor. They're typically $150-$300 per draw depending on the lender. This is typically not a huge deal when I'm working with a GC. They're usually fine getting 2 draws throughout the construction project and it just costs me an additional few hundred dollars in fees. However, in working with sub contractors it is going to require more frequent payments to them vs the one or two draws I would request when working with a GC. I'm trying to figure out how to navigate this without increasing the number of draws I'm requesting from the hard money lenders. 1-2 draws/project I can handle. 5+ and that starts to really dig in to the profit margin on a deal. Has anyone navigated this scenario? Any recommendations for how to best handle this? I could, in theory, just keep some money in savings to float these costs, but I'd really rather that money go to buying another property instead of sitting their floating money to pay contractors.


    Ryan,

    I know of a lender that automatically budgets 4 draws into the budget which might save you a little bit on that end, plus they defer the monthly interest payments which might keep you more liquid.

    As you get going there are definitely a few options, just shot you a DM and would love to help if I can.

    Good luck!

  • Specialist · NJ · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 653 votes
    2y

    So, one way to combat this is to be liquid and be able to fund out of pocket as much as possible and limit the number of draws you take.  The draw fees can be annoying if you do more than 3 draws.

  • Erik EstradaBusiness Member
    Lender · Member since 2022 · 6k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2w

    Some of my clients do a HELOC or full cash out to help fund their rehabs. They take 1 draw instead of multiple.

    LuxePrivate Investments LLC 572 Reviews
  • Kennesaw, GA · Member since 2019 · 67 posts · 30 votes
    2w

    This in an interesting thread post that I think often will be overlooked by investors not well versed in the hard money renovation process.

    An invoice authorization may also be a viable solution to anyone looking to lessen out of pocket capital needed for a renovation.

    Specifically for this post @Ryan Horne it may be one and the same if your initial acquisition method is hard money with the purpose to flip the property.

    I would however suggest this strategy to anyone looking to acquire long term financing on a property needing renovations. An invoice authorization will allow a reasonable increase of the initial purchase price of a property from the originally agreed upon price by the seller and buyer for the purpose of necessary repairs.

    For example, a property is agreed upon to be purchased at 150k and needs 15k in repairs. With an invoice authorization the property can close at 165k into long term financing with 15k specifically for your contractor. Instead of reducing the purchase price and paying out of pocket you’d essentially be wrapping the needed renovation into the long term loan.

    This is helpful to reduce out of pocket needed for renovations and potentially increase your return on the property.

    Check with your lenders but this can be a win win solution.

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