Hard Money Loan Calculator (2026): Loan Size, Points, Interest and Flip Profit

The calculator

Every field is editable and the page defaults are one button away (“Reset to page defaults”). The next sections say what each output means, where each default comes from and what moves the answer most. For rates by lender and state, not for loan sizing, see our hard money loan rates page.

How the loan is sized: the formulas

Two simplifications matter. The draw schedule is straight-line over the whole hold, while a real rehab usually finishes before the listing period, so true drawn-balance interest is higher than the calculator shows and the full-commitment result is the ceiling. And the calculator takes the number of months you give it: if that exceeds the loan term, the extension fee and default rate in your loan documents are not modeled.

Where each default comes from

The defaults are one hypothetical deal. We sourced everything a lender or federal record states, and we mark the rest as placeholders.

Calculator defaults and their sources

HMDA's loan-to-value field is whatever the lender reported against its own property value, so the 70% median is a loose check, not a lending rule. HMDA has no points, fees or ARV, and lenders under the federal reporting threshold are missing (the coverage rules are in the notes of our rates page).

What lenders publish: LTC, ARV, points and term

Published fix-and-flip terms read on October 7, 2026 (unless the row says otherwise)

Three things stand out. First, the headline leverage is a ceiling for experienced borrowers: RCN Capital's own tiers start a new investor at 80% of the purchase price and 70% of ARV, so on the default deal a new-investor cap of 70% of $370,000 is $259,000, below the $266,000 the 90% LTC default would give (our arithmetic). Second, only Kiavi states points anywhere we could read, and that was in 2023: treat points as something to ask for in writing. Third, Kiavi's two statements on its own page (100% LTC in the headline, 95% in the FAQ) are a reminder that the quote, not the marketing line, sets your numbers.

Worked example: the default deal, step by step

All figures are our arithmetic and are reproduced by the script check_math.py in the data folder.

Default deal: interest on the drawn balance

The profit is 214.8% annualized only because it is simple annualization over five months with a thin cash stake. Add a month or two of delay and the figure drops fast, as the scenarios show.

How points and interest-on-full-commitment change the result

Same deal, one change at a time (our arithmetic)

What the table says:

• Points cost more than rate on a short loan. Moving the note rate from 9.5% to 11% changes profit by $1,537.50. Moving points from 1 to 3 changes it by $5,320 (our arithmetic). The 9.5% and 11% rows are the 25th and 75th percentile 2025 non-bank rates (9.5% and 11%) on our rates page.
• Full-commitment interest is a smaller effect than a month of delay. It cost $854.17 on a five-month hold. Three more months on the project cost $9,175.63 of profit (our arithmetic). Kiavi's 2023 article makes a related point: its example compares a lower rate on “90% all-in” with a higher rate on 90% LTC, and says that “is not the same as 90% LTC”.
• A lower LTC trades profit for safety, not for savings. At 80% LTC the loan is $24,000 smaller, you bring $23,760 more cash to closing, and ROI falls from 89.5% to 60.5% while dollar profit rises by $1,265.00 (our arithmetic).
• The ARV is the number that breaks the deal. A $30,000 lower ARV removes $27,808 of profit: the sale falls by $28,200 net of selling costs and the loan shrinks by $11,000, which you replace with your own cash. In the JBREC and Kiavi Q2 2026 survey, 21% of flippers sold mostly below ARV, and 91% of those who came in below ARV had overestimated the sale price.

What a flipper can do with this

1. Run your real numbers, then run a bad case. Enter the contract price, a contractor bid, an ARV you can defend with sold comps, and the quote's rate, points and fees. Then lower the ARV by 8% and add three months. If profit goes negative, the deal is priced on hope.
2. Find which cap binds before you compare quotes. If loan-to-ARV binds, a lender offering a higher LTC does nothing for you; a higher ARV cap or a lower purchase price does. If LTC binds, a lender with a higher LTC changes cash at closing dollar for dollar.
3. Ask four questions in writing: is interest charged on the drawn balance or the whole commitment; how many points and what fees, flat or percentage; how are draws funded and how long do they take; what is the extension fee after the term. Compare quotes by the total financing cost and the annual rate the calculator shows, not by the note rate.
4. Check your note rate against the record. In 2025, a non-bank note rate at or below 9.5% was in the cheapest quarter of loans and at or above 11% in the costliest (middle half 9.5% to 11%). Rates by lender and state are on the hard money loan rates page; the lender-by-lender comparison from filings is in the best fix-and-flip lenders of 2026; our Kiavi review covers the largest lender; a bridge loan on a property you plan to refinance is on our bridge loan page, and if you hold the house afterwards, the rental property calculator and DSCR loan calculator take it from there.

Kiavi pays us a referral fee when a loan closes through its button in the box below; the figures above are the same either way, and Visio Lending, also in the box, makes 30-year rental loans, the refinance step after a flip or BRRRR, not short-term loans.

FAQ

Sources: HMDA loan-level data (FFIEC Data Browser, nationwide originated conventional loans for 2025, extract and definitions from our hard money loan rates page); Kiavi fix-and-flip page (kiavi.com/loans/fix-and-flip) and Kiavi article “Understanding the Math Behind Pricing a Hard Money Loan” (February 23, 2023); Lima One Capital FixNFlip page (limaone.com/fix-and-flip-loans); RCN Capital fix and flip page (rcncapital.com/fix-and-flip); JBREC and Kiavi Q2 2026 Fix and Flip Survey article (Kiavi, August 17, 2026); all lender pages read October 7, 2026 and saved in the data folder. All loan sizes, interest, points, profit, ROI and annualized figures are our arithmetic (check_math.py). This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice, and not a loan offer.