Michael, for a rehab where conventional financing does not fit, the common options are usually hard money, private money, a local community bank, seller financing, or a bridge loan. The right fit depends on the purchase price, rehab budget, ARV, timeline, and how much cash you can bring in.

I’d compare the full cost of the financing, not just the interest rate. Points, draw fees, appraisal costs, extension fees, required reserves, and a short maturity can change the economics pretty quickly.

Before committing, I'd build a complete project budget that includes the purchase, renovation, financing costs, taxes, insurance, utilities, permits, holding costs, selling costs, and a contingency for surprises. I'd also verify the ARV with recent renovated sales rather than active listings.

On the entity side, I'd separate liability protection from tax savings. An LLC can be useful for holding rental real estate and separating the property from your personal name, but an LLC by itself generally does not save income taxes on a rental. A single-member LLC is typically disregarded for federal tax purposes, so the rental income, expenses, and depreciation generally still flow through to your individual return.

The tax strategy depends much more on what you’re actually doing. A long-term rental, a flip, and a property you rehab and refinance can have very different tax treatment. If you’re regularly buying properties primarily to renovate and resell, those profits may be treated more like active business income than investment gains.

And if you end up holding a property as a rental, I’d also have your CPA evaluate depreciation and whether cost segregation makes sense based on the property and your overall tax situation.

Since this is your first deal back, I’d get the financing, insurance, entity, and tax setup reviewed before closing instead of trying to fix it afterward.

Happy to connect!