How Much Will a Hard Money Lender Lend? Loan Sizing Calculator

The lesser-of rule

A hard money program can set several ceilings, each measured against a different base, and the loan has to fit under all of them. The maximum loan is therefore the lowest cap, and the limit that produces it is the binding constraint.

Each cap answers a different question. As-Is LTV asks how much of today's collateral value is out on loan if the project stalls on day one. LTC asks how much of the project the borrower is paying for. LTARV asks whether the finished property, at its after-repair value, leaves room to repay. The lender needs every answer to hold, so the lowest one sets the loan.

One consequence trips people up: raising a limit that isn't binding changes nothing. The loan only grows when the binding cap moves, and then only until the next-lowest cap takes over.

Three programs, three binding limits

The buttons above the calculator run the same $300,000 purchase and $100,000 rehab through three example programs. The property values and the percentages move a little each time, and a different bar sets the loan.

1. As-Is LTV binds

The property is worth $400,000 today and $550,000 after repairs, under limits of 70% As-Is LTV, 90% LTC and 70% LTARV. The as-is limit gives $280,000, against $360,000 for LTC and $385,000 for LTARV. Measured against an as-is value of $400,000 and a total project cost of $400,000, the 70% as-is percentage is the stricter test. The loan is $280,000, and the next cap up is $80,000 higher.

2. LTC binds

Same purchase and rehab, but the as-is value is $460,000, the ARV is $600,000, and the program's LTC limit drops to 80%. The as-is cap rises to $322,000, while LTC now gives $320,000. LTC binds, by a margin of $2,000: raise the LTC limit and the loan can grow by at most that much before As-Is LTV takes over.

3. LTARV binds

The as-is value is $460,000 again, but the ARV comes in at $520,000 and the program lends only 60% of it. The LTARV cap of $312,000 falls below both the as-is cap ($322,000) and the LTC cap ($360,000). With a total project cost of $400,000, the finished property is worth only $120,000 more than it cost, and a conservative ARV percentage turns the exit value into the constraint.

The rehab is fully funded in all three, so the $100,000 holdback comes out of each loan first and the borrower's purchase equity moves with the binding cap: $120,000, $80,000 and $88,000.

Financed project cost and split LTC

The fourth bar isn't a policy percentage. It's a mechanical ceiling: the loan can't exceed the purchase price plus the part of the rehab the lender has agreed to fund, the financed project cost. When the lender funds the whole rehab, it equals total cost ($400,000 in scenario 1) and sits above the other caps.

It binds when the rehab funded percentage is low and the leverage limits are generous. Take scenario 2's property values with a 75% as-is limit, a 90% LTC limit and only 25% of the rehab funded. The caps are $345,000 (As-Is LTV), $360,000 (LTC) and $420,000 (LTARV), but the financed project cost is $325,000, so the result reads “Limited by financed project cost.” The loan covers $300,000 of the purchase and $25,000 of the rehab; the borrower pays the other $75,000 of the renovation.

Split LTC. Some lenders quote leverage as two numbers instead of one, for example “90% of purchase + 100% of rehab.” No single LTC matches that on every deal, because the blended ratio depends on the mix. On the example property it works out to 92.5%: (90% × $300,000 + 100% × $100,000) ÷ $400,000. Halve the rehab to $50,000 and the same split is 91.43%.

To model a split program here, enter the blended figure as Max LTC for that deal and set rehab funded to the rehab share (100% in this case). At 92.5%, the LTC cap comes out at $370,000, exactly 90% of the price plus all of the rehab. Recalculate the blend whenever the purchase-to-rehab mix changes.

Total loan or initial advance?

Lenders don't all apply the as-is limit to the same number. This calculator, like the app, applies As-Is LTV to the total loan, holdback included. Others apply it only to the money funded at closing, the acquisition advance. Bob Flynn of Flynn Lending describes his guideline that way: he typically doesn't like to lend more than 80% of the as-is value “at close of escrow” (April 15, 2024).

When the rehab is large next to the as-is value, the two conventions give very different loans. Take a $200,000 purchase with a $60,000 rehab, an as-is value of $210,000 and an ARV of $340,000, under 75% As-Is LTV, 90% LTC and 70% LTARV:

The second row works like this. Without the as-is limit, LTC would allow $234,000, leaving an advance of $174,000, which is 82.86% of the as-is value. That's over 75%, so the advance is cut to $157,500 and the holdback is added back on top. That arithmetic is ours, not the app's: the app models only the total-loan convention. If a lender sizes the advance-only way, expect its maximum to be the same as or higher than the one this calculator shows.

What published programs say

Lenders publish different numbers. Each is one program on one date, not a standard:

• New Silver (help-center example, accessed October 4, 2026): a $200,000 purchase, $50,000 rehab and $290,000 ARV. 90% LTC gives $225,000 and 75% of ARV gives $217,500, so the maximum loan is $217,500, with the $50,000 rehab held back and a $167,500 acquisition loan. Entered here with As-Is LTV off, the calculator returns the same $217,500 maximum, $50,000 holdback and $167,500 advance.
• Flynn Lending (Bob Flynn, April 15, 2024): typically no more than 80% of the as-is value at closing and no more than 65% of ARV, choosing “the more conservative of the parameters.”
• Easy Street Capital (EasyFix program page, accessed October 4, 2026): up to 93% LTC and 75% of ARV.

Read these as examples of how programs are written. The typical loan terms guide collects dated, sourced rate, point and leverage figures.

Bank limits, for context

Banks supervised by the OCC, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve follow the Interagency Guidelines for Real Estate Lending Policies, which set supervisory loan-to-value limits by property type (12 CFR Part 34 for the OCC, Part 365 for the FDIC and Part 208 for the Federal Reserve). They don't apply to private lenders, but they show how regulators scale leverage to risk:

*Credit enhancement is expected at 90% LTV or higher.

Two lines from the same guidelines are worth borrowing. For a loan to buy an existing property, “value” means “the lesser of the actual acquisition cost or the estimate of value.” On a deal with no rehab, you get the same test here by entering the same percentage for As-Is LTV and LTC. And the guidelines say “loan disbursements should not exceed actual development or construction outlays,” the principle behind paying rehab draws only for work in place.

After sizing

• Hard money loan calculator: the same inputs with points, interest and borrower cash to close added.
• LTV vs LTC vs LTARV: the three meanings of “LTV” and what goes into “cost” at different lenders.
• Fix and flip loan calculator: holdback, draws and funded-balance interest once the loan is sized.