Five Fix-and-Flip Files, Five Different Loans: How the Property, Your Credit, Your Track Record and Your Liquidity Set the Financing

By Steve Waller · October 17, 2026

The four things that decide the loan

Every fix-and-flip file we size comes down to the same four questions.

• The property. What will it be worth after repairs (the ARV), and how much work it takes to get there. The ARV comes from closed sales in the same subdivision, matched on size and layout, not from a ZIP code average.
• The credit. The score on the file sets which programs are open. Our in-house programs start at 720. Below that we place files with other funding sources, generally down to about 600, depending on the property, the experience and the cash available.
• The experience. Completed projects in the last 36 months. This is what moves you from the entry program to full financing.
• The liquidity. Cash you can show in the bank. It has two jobs: covering whatever is due at closing, and carrying the project after closing. For our in-house programs, plan on reserves of at least one-third of the renovation budget plus six months of carrying costs, on top of any cash due at closing.

The examples below use round numbers so you can follow the arithmetic. None of them is a quote.

Example 1: strong credit, deep track record, cosmetic rehab

A guarantor with a 740 score and 12 completed flips in the last three years buys a house for $200,000. It needs $40,000 of cosmetic work and will be worth $340,000 when finished. Closing costs run about $7,500.

This file qualifies for our 100% funding program, which takes a 720 score and 10 completed deals in the last 36 months. It covers 100% of the purchase and 100% of the rehab, with closing costs carried inside the loan, as long as the total stays within 75% of ARV.

• 75% of $340,000 = $255,000 available
• Purchase + repairs + closing = $247,500 needed
• Cash due at closing: $0

The loan is written at $247,500, not $255,000. On a purchase there is no surplus: the loan is cut to what the file needs.

Liquidity: $0 at closing does not mean $0 in the bank. One-third of the $40,000 rehab is $13,333, and six months of interest on $247,500 at an illustrative 11% is about $13,600, before taxes and insurance. Plan on showing roughly $27,000.

Example 2: strong credit, a few flips

Same 740 score, but four completed flips. The house costs $180,000, needs $50,000 of work and will be worth $320,000. Closing costs about $7,000.

This borrower is on the entry program: 90% of the purchase and 100% of the rehab, capped at 70% of ARV.

• 90% of $180,000 + $50,000 of rehab = $212,000
• 70% of $320,000 = $224,000, so the cap does not bind
• Loan: $212,000. Cash due at closing: about $25,000, which is the 10% down payment plus closing costs

Six more closed projects and this borrower reaches Example 1. On this house, that would take the check from $25,000 to $0.

Liquidity: this file needs the $25,000 for closing plus reserves: one-third of the rehab ($16,667) and about $11,700 of interest over six months on $212,000. Call it $53,000 in verified funds. A borrower with $30,000 in the bank has the down payment but not the file.

Example 3: Texas hard money, sized on the ARV alone

In Texas, a hard money loan can be sized on the after-repair value instead of the purchase price. The calculation always runs in the same order:

ARV × advance rate − repairs − closing costs − purchase price = cash due at closing

Take a house worth $300,000 after $45,000 of work, with $8,000 of closing costs, at a 70% to 75% advance.

• Bought at $150,000: 70% of ARV is $210,000. Take off repairs and closing and $157,000 is left for the purchase, more than the $150,000 price. Cash due: $0. The advance is reduced to $203,000, about 67.7% of ARV, so there is no surplus.
• Bought at $185,000: at 70%, $157,000 is left for a $185,000 purchase, so $28,000 is due at closing. At 75%, $172,000 is left and $13,000 is due.

Same house, same borrower. A $35,000 difference in the price paid moved the check from zero to $13,000 or more. On this structure, the purchase price matters more than anything else in the file.

Liquidity: at $150,000 the borrower still needs about $26,000 in reserves, one-third of the rehab plus six months of interest. At $185,000 and a 75% advance it is the $13,000 due at closing plus about $27,400 in reserves, roughly $40,000 in all.

Example 4: credit below 720, little experience

A borrower with a 640 score and one completed flip finds a house with plenty of spread. Our in-house programs are closed to this file on credit alone. It can still be funded through other sources, but expect more cash at closing and a higher cost of money than in Examples 1 to 3.

This is where liquidity carries the most weight. Below 720, the minimum score a program will take depends on the property, the experience and the cash the borrower can show. Strong reserves can get a lower score approved. Thin reserves with a thin score is the file that gets declined.

The lever most people miss is the guarantor. The credit, experience and liquidity requirements attach to whoever guarantees the loan, not to the property. A partner with a 720 score and a track record on the file can open the in-house programs, and with 10 closed deals, the 100% program. Decide who you partner with on trust and the business terms first. The financing follows from that.

Example 5: the property decides before the borrower does

Two houses in the same part of town, both listed at a low price per square foot, both bought by the same borrower.

• House A needs paint, floors and a kitchen. Its ARV sits in the middle of what the subdivision has sold for. The numbers work.
• House B is the biggest house on its street. To make the purchase work, its ARV has to beat the best sale in the subdivision by 30% or more. The low price per foot is the warning, not the opportunity.

No credit score or track record fixes House B. A lender can only advance against a value the comparable sales support. A few property limits apply to every file: the minimum loan is $75,000, and manufactured housing is not financed.

What moves a file up

• Buy right. In Example 3, the purchase price made a $13,000 to $28,000 difference. No program changes that.
• Count your closings. Ten completed projects in 36 months, with a 720 score, is the line between paying 10% plus closing costs and paying nothing.
• Show the cash before you need it. Reserves of one-third of the rehab plus six months of carry, on top of the closing check.
• Use the guarantor. A qualified partner can open a program the file could not reach on its own.
• Underwrite the ARV from the subdivision. If the after-repair value only works on sales from the next neighborhood over, the deal does not work.

Before you make an offer, run your deal through the free Deal Check or the Deal Estimator at acp-lending.com. They show the cash due at closing before you are under contract. Credit is reviewed with a soft pull, and fix-and-flip files close in about five business days once the file is complete.

The full report, and every earlier one, is available on ACP's website at acp-lending.com. Investors can sign up at acp-lending.com/investor-brief to receive new reports by email.

Sources

• ACP Lending, Fix and Flip Bridge Loans
• ACP Lending, Deal Calculator
• ACP Lending, Free Deal Check

Market data is from public sources and is provided for information only. Nothing here is an offer of credit, a rate quote, or investment advice. Financing is subject to underwriting, lender approval, appraisal or valuation, title, insurance, property eligibility and program availability.

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