From an investor’s perspective, what have you found to be the best credit card for travel points and/or cash back? The card will be used to purchase building materials and pay contractors using a hard money draw system (the card will be paid off within a few days each time it’s used). Curious what you use (or have used) that you love. Also would love thoughts on what NOT to use if you’ve had any bad experiences.
Lender · Pickerington, OH · Member since 2026 · 49 posts · 39 votes
1mo
I use the Chase Sapphire Reserve and really like it, especially because we travel quite a bit. The annual fee is definitely hefty, but for me the travel credit, points and other benefits make it worth keeping.
That said, if the majority of your spend is going to be building materials and contractors, I’d compare cards based on what they earn on those purchases, not just the travel rewards. A lot of travel cards only give their base rate on that type of spend, so you could be leaving a lot of rewards on the table.
I do like your strategy of putting the rehab expenses on a card and then paying it off as soon as the hard money draw comes in. If you’re disciplined about paying it off, that can turn a pretty significant rehab budget into a nice amount of points/cash back without paying interest.
Personally, I’d probably look at a good business card for the rehab expenses and keep a premium travel card for actually using/redeeming the travel benefits. Just make sure your contractor doesn’t charge a card fee that wipes out whatever you’re earning in rewards.
Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 10k+ votes
1mo
Citibank double for 2% cash on everything.
Sprinkle in new cards with big rewards for spending $1-$3k in first 30-90 days. ($300-$1,000 bonus) Then I just throw those cards in the safe for emergency use only.