REsimpli Mastermind Recap – Funding Strategies for Flips, Rentals & Creative Deals (Dec 16th, 2025)

This week on our REsimpli Mastermind call, we hosted a deep-dive discussion on real estate funding strategies, covering everything from conventional loans to hard money, private money, and creative finance. The session was highly tactical, with real investor scenarios, live Q&A, and step-by-step breakdowns of how to fund deals in today’s market.

Topic: Understanding the 5 Core Types of Real Estate Funding

Challenge: Many investors struggle to choose the right type of financing for each deal and often default to the wrong option, leading to higher costs, delays, or missed opportunities.

Advice:

• Conventional (QM) Loans
  
  • Best for primary residences, second homes, and some rentals
    
  • Lower rates, but harder to qualify
    
  • Works best for W-2 earners with low debt
    
  • Often challenging for full-time investors with 1099 or K-1 income
    
    
• Non-QM Loans (DSCR Loans)
  
  • Ideal for rental properties
    
  • Qualification based on property cash flow, not personal income
    
  • Slightly higher rates than conventional loans
    
  • Easier approval for full-time investors
    
  • Often best sourced through a mortgage broker who shops multiple lenders
    
    
• Hard Money Loans
  
  • Short-term funding for flips and rehabs
    
  • Faster approval with lighter qualification
    
  • Common features:
    
    • 80–90% loan-to-value
      
    • Rehab funding via draw schedules
      
    • 6–12 month terms with extension options
      
  • Some lenders offer desktop or drive-by appraisals for experienced investors

• Private Money
  
  • Relationship-based funding from individuals
    
  • Often used for flips, bridge funding, or transactional funding
    
  • Flexible terms and faster execution
    
  • Requires trust, credibility, and clear communication
    
• Creative Finance
  
  • Seller financing
    
  • Subject-to deals
    
  • Hybrid structures (subject-to + seller carry)
    
  • Best used to solve seller problems, not force bad deals to work

Key Insight:

The best investors don’t rely on one funding source. They understand which financing tool fits each deal and exit strategy.

Topic: Funding Fix-and-Flip Deals the Right Way

Challenge: Newer flippers often underestimate funding requirements, rehab cash flow timing, and loan structure limitations.

Advice:

• Use hard money for acquisition and rehab, but clarify:
  
  • How much of the rehab budget is funded
    
  • Whether draws are reimbursed or advanced
    
• Plan for extension fees in case projects run long
  
• Avoid pushing ARV too aggressively
  
• Always have a backup exit:
  
  • Refinance into DSCR
    
  • Rent the property if the flip stalls

Key Insight:

In today’s market, every flip should have a rental fallback option just in case timelines or sales slow down.

Topic: Creative Financing to Increase Deal Flexibility

Challenge: Sellers reject low cash offers, while investors struggle to make numbers work with rising interest rates.

Advice:

• Offer multiple options to sellers:
  
  • Cash offer
    
  • Seller financing at a higher price
    
  • Subject-to existing low-interest mortgages
    
• Use creative terms to trade price for flexibility
  
• Hybrid structures can bridge equity gaps:
  
  • Take over the mortgage
    
  • Carry the remaining balance as seller finance
    
• Always solve for the seller’s real motivation first

Key Insight:

Creative finance is a tool to align seller needs with investor returns, not a way to rescue bad deals.

Topic: How to Raise Private Money (Step-by-Step)

Challenge: Many investors hear “just use private money” but have no clear process for actually raising it.

Advice:

How Private Money Relationships Are Built:

• Investor friends and peers
  
• Long-term relationships
  
• Social media credibility and deal documentation
  
• Referrals from existing lenders

The Private Money Process:

• Initial relationship-building conversation
  
• Zoom walkthrough explaining:
  
  
  • Investor background
    
  • Deal structure
    
  • Risk and returns
    
• Align on:
  
  
  • Loan amount
    
  • Term length (typically 6–12 months)
    
  • Expected returns
    
• Verbal commitment
  
• Draft promissory note and mortgage
  
• Notarize documents
  
• Funds wired directly through title
  
• Lender paid directly from the HUD at closing

Best Practices:

• Record mortgage notes for lender security
  
• Be transparent about risks
  
• Always prioritize paying back lenders, even if a deal goes poorly

Key Insight:

Private money works best when lenders feel informed, protected, and respected.

Topic: Credit, Loan Limits & Common Financing Problems

Challenge: Deals fall apart due to avoidable financing issues like credit score thresholds or loan size limits.

Advice:

• DSCR loans can go as low as:
  
  
  • 620 credit with lower leverage
    
  • 680 credit for stronger terms (up to ~75% LTV)
    
• Credit utilization is often the biggest issue
  
• Rapid rescore options can raise scores quickly
  
• For smaller-value properties:
  
  
  • Consider local banks or credit unions
    
  • Portfolio loans may work better than national lenders

Key Insight:

Many financing problems are solvable with the right lender relationships and preparation.

Topic: B2B & Referral-Based Deal Sourcing

Challenge: Direct-to-seller marketing is becoming more expensive and competitive.

Advice:

• Build relationships with:
  
  • Real estate agents
    
  • Title companies
    
  • Attorneys
    
  • Assisted living facilities
    
  • Local professionals with community access
    
• Stay top-of-mind through consistent follow-up
  
• Segment referral partners by deal quality
  
• Use email marketing and personal outreach

Key Insight:

Referral-based deal flow compounds over time and often delivers higher-quality opportunities than cold marketing alone.

Best Takeaways from the Session

The investors who consistently fund and close deals are the ones who

• Understand multiple funding sources
  
• Match financing to exit strategy
  
• Build real lender relationships
  
• Use creative options to solve seller problems
  
• Plan conservative exits in uncertain markets

In today’s environment, funding knowledge is a competitive advantage. Investors who master it can move faster, structure better deals, and stay profitable even as conditions shift.