North Carolina Construction Lenders for Residential Properties

Simplending Financial, a private lender, funded a $713,440 first-lien position ground-up construction loan for a spec home in Mint Hill, NC. The land value was $140,000 and the construction budget was $714,000. The Borrower owned the lot free-and-clear and had plans & permits approved by the city. He lacked construction/development experience. Using his brother as a guarantor, we made it work. He brought $0 to the table at closing, and we secured a $713,000 loan to start building! The completed value is estimated to be $1,200,000 so our loan-to-value was 59%. The interest rate was 11.99% and we charged 1.75% origination points. The loan term was set at 12 months. Mint Hill is a suburban town in southeastern Mecklenburg and northwestern Union counties, southeast of Charlotte and near the Cabarrus County line. This ground-up construction loan was funded in August 2024.

I Fund Cities, an alternative lending platform, funded a $203,808 senior lien position ground-up construction loan for a single-family home in Gastonia, NC. We funded 100% of the $201,775 renovation budget. The purchase price of the land was $35,000. The completed value was estimated at $305,000 so our loan-to-completed value was 66%. This builder, a repeat client and a major spec home builder in the area, struggled to scale using the bank’s funding due to caps on exposure (the amount of debt a Borrower can carry) and spec ratio (the number of builds a Borrower can undertake). The banks also offered lower leverage, requiring the Borrower to bring more cash to deals. We supported this builder’s volume of over 100 new builds per year and funded 85% of the project cost, closing in two to three weeks – much faster than the bank’s 60-day timeline. The loan term was set at 12 months. This ground-up construction loan was funded in June 2024.

I Fund Cities, an alternative lending platform, funded a $4,420,000 senior lien position ground-up construction loan for 13 townhomes in Charlotte, NC. We funded 65% of the $2,210,000 land purchase price, while the Borrower contributed 35% cash to the purchase at closing, and we funded 100% of the $2,990,000 construction budget. The completed value was estimated at $6,500,000 so our loan-to-completed value was 68%. This local new construction Borrower was limited on the land acquisitions they were able to complete because of the volume limits put on them by other lenders. We advanced the builder 70% loan-to-value (LTV) on the acquisition, which drastically decreased their cash to close in relation to other lenders they were working with. This help allowed them to acquire 13 townhouse lots for acquisition and vertical build in a desirable, up-and-coming neighborhood, currently prime for real estate development. The Borrower plans to sell the property as an exit strategy. The loan term was set at 12 months. This ground-up construction loan was funded in May 2024.

I Fund Cities, an alternative lending platform, funded a $681,000 senior lien position ground-up construction loan for a single-family home in Charlotte, North Carolina. The purchase price was $325,000 and the construction budget was $500,000. The completed value was estimated at $1,350,000 so our loan-to-completed value was 50%. We funded 82.5% of the total project costs while the Borrower contributed 17.5%. iFC’s North and South Carolina Territory Sales Representative, Erik Eichinger, met these new clients at a networking event in Charlotte. The new construction builders were very respected and successful builders in this area, however, their cost of capital was eating into their cash flow. After discussing their options and hearing about their goals, we were able to offer them much better terms than their previous lender. One of the advantages of our loan was that it allowed them to bring in less money down. This meant that they could invest in more projects. The Borrower plans to sell the property upon completion of the construction. The loan term was set at 12 months. This SFR ground-up construction loan was funded in April 2023.

I Fund Cities, an alternative lending platform, funded a $1,635,000 ground-up construction loan in 1st lien position for a portfolio of 8 homes in 2 suburbs of Charlotte, NC. We funded 100% of the $1,635,000 construction budget. The estimated completed value was $2,442,000 so our loan-to-complete value was 85%. This North Carolina developer came to i Fund Cities when their usual funding sources were tapped out of capital. Erik Eichinger, our location-based loan officer for The Carolinas, met with the developers to fully understand their needs. iFC was then able to help this developer continue to scale their business, by providing a new construction portfolio loan for eight single-family homes. The developer used the imputed land equity from the lots they owned free and clear as their portion down, and they were able to close without bringing a single dollar to the closing table! The Borrower plans to sell the property upon completion of the build. The loan term was set at 12 months. This ground-up construction loan was funded in November 2022.

I Fund Cities, an alternative lending platform built for investors, funded a $478,000 construction loan for the purchase of a portfolio of residential properties in Charlotte, North Carolina. It included two single-family residences funded at 80% LTP for the $150,00 land acquisition, and the Borrower put down 20%. The construction budget was $340,000 and iFC funded 100% of that amount. The completed value was $750,000 so the loan-to-completed value was 64%. The loan term was set at 12 months. The Borrower plans to sell to 2 homes upon completion.

This investor came to us after their previous lender put a pause on new construction lending. We started seeing this happening a lot in the 3rd quarter of 2022, across many markets. Due to our varied sources of funding, which give us reliable funds even in choppy waters, iFC is has continued to fund projects even when other lenders can’t. We love the North Carolina market and we are committed to continuing to lend to our customers. This residential ground-up construction loan was funded in September 2022.

In July 2022, i Fund Cities (iFC) funded a $675K construction loan for 5 homes in Salisbury, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte. The construction budget was $660,000, and the estimated completed value was $1,346,000. We funded 85% of the construction budget, and the loan term is 18 months. The client, a builder doing approximately 40 houses a year in the Salisbury area, came to us through a referral. The client was building all of his houses with cash. However, given the current market state (and a bit of unknown), he wanted to leverage some debt.

Key Loan Benefit to Borrower:

Through a portfolio loan for five houses, iFC was able to help this builder fund his new construction projects, without bringing any money to closing, and keep some of his cash in reserves. In addition, by giving this client an 18-month loan, he has ample time to finish the construction of these houses, which would not have been the case with another lender offering 12 months with the threat of an extension fee.

I Fund Cities, a direct private lending firm, funded a ground-up construction loan for two single-family homes in the Charlotte, North Carolina metro area. We met the client at a weekly real estate meetup. He owned several empty lots in the Gastonia area but was using a private individual investor/funder and he was only able to build one house at the time. We were able to take his equity in the purchased lots that he owned free and clear and help him fund two new construction projects. He did this not only by using zero money out of his own pocket, but the client also walked away with CASH at CLOSING! The key loan benefit for this borrower was that he was able to scale! He can now build multiple projects at a time. The purchase price of the land was $15,000. The construction budget for the 2 homes was $130,000. We funded 85% of the construction costs. The value upon completion was expected to be around $225,000 which puts our loan-to-completed value at around 60%. The loan term was set at 12 months. This equity cash-out loan was funded in April 2022.

Customer Feedback:

“iFC has unleashed us as builders. Previously, we were building one or two new constructions at a time, we are now able to do 5 or more at a time!”