Portfolio lenders are a great option for real estate investors looking for flexible loans. These lenders keep their loans on their balance sheet, meaning that they don’t have to follow Fannie Mae guidelines. We looked at the available portfolio lenders and chose CoreVest, Lima One Capital, and PGIM as the best.

Best Portfolio Lenders 2018

Portfolio Lender Comparison Table: Lima One Capital vs. CoreVest vs. PGIM

	CoreVest	Lima One Capital	PGIM Real Estate Finance
Loan Amount Learn More	$67.5k - $100m (Up to 80% LTV)	$50k - $4m (Up to 90% LTV or 70% ARV)	$5m - $200m (Up to 75% LTV)
Down Payment Learn More	20%+ of Loan-to-Value (LTV)	10%+ of Loan-to-Value (LTV), 30%+ of After-Repair-Value (ARV)	25%+ of Loan-to-Value (LTV)
Interest Rates Learn More	5% - 8% Fixed	5% - 12% Fixed	5% - 8% Fixed or Variable
Costs Learn More	0% - 1% Loan Origination Fees, 2% - 5% Closing Costs, 1% Prepayment Penalty	0% - 1% Loan Origination Fees, 2% - 5% Closing Costs, 1% Prepayment Penalty	0% - 1% Loan Origination Fees, 2% - 5% Closing Costs, 1% Prepayment Penalty
Term Learn More	5 - 30 Years	1 Years - 30 Years	3 - 20 Years
Time to Preapproval Learn More	24 Hours	24 Hours	24 Hours
Time to Funding Learn More	30 - 45 Days	15 - 45 Days	30 - 45 Days
Qualifications Learn More	600+ Personal Credit Score (check your credit score for free here), DSCR 1.25+, 3+ Months Stable Occupancy at 90%, 6+ Months Cash Reserves	660+ Personal Credit Score (check your credit score for free here), DSCR 1.25+, 3+ Months Stable Occupancy at 90%, 6+ Months Cash Reserves	660+ Personal Credit Score (check your credit score for free here), DSCR 1.25+, 3+ Months Stable Occupancy at 90%, 6+ Months Cash Reserves
Loan Options Learn More	Blanket Mortgage, Term Loan (1 - 4 units), Line of Credit (1 - 5+ units), Short-Term Bridge Loan	Fix-and-Flip Loan (Including Construction, Rehab, & Cash Out), Term Loan (1 - 4 units), Multifamily Loan (5+ units)	Blanket Mortgage, Term Loan (1 - 4 units), Multifamily Loan (5+ units)
	Visit CoreVest	Visit Lima One Capital	Visit PGIM Real Estate Finance

*Updated: March, 2018

Best Portfolio Lender 2018: Lima One Capital

Lima One Capital is our pick as the best portfolio lender for real estate investors because it offers the widest range of short-term and permanent financing options. For example, CoreVest only offers a short-term line of credit while Lima One Capital offers 4 separate fix-and-flip loans. PGIM only offers permanent financing.

The portfolio lender’s short-term loans include purchase-only, construction, cash out, and renovation financing. The terms of these fix-and-flip loans range from 1 – 2 years and have maximum loan amounts up to 90% loan-to-value (LTV) and 70% after-repair-value (ARV).

Lima One Capital also offers term loans for buildings with 1 – 4 units as and multifamily loans for buildings with 5+ units. These loans can range from $50k – $4m and have a maximum loan amount equal to 75% loan-to-value (LTV).

They’re the only portfolio lender on our list with multiple short-term and permanent portfolio loans. They offer term loans, multifamily loans, and multiple fix-and-flip loans. By comparison, CoreVest only offers term loans, blanket mortgages, and a line of credit, and PGIM only offers term loans and multifamily loans starting at $5 million.

What’s more, Lima One Capital has competitive interest rates that range between 5 – 12%. Further, the portfolio lender has standard minimum qualifications which include a 660+ minimum credit score, 6+ months cash reserves, 3+ months stable occupancy, and 1.25+ minimum debt service coverage ratio (DSCR).

However, CoreVest and PGIM both offer blanket mortgages while Lima One Capital doesn’t. Further, both CoreVest has a max loan amount of $100m and PGIM has a max loan amount of $200m while Lima One Capital caps its loans at $4 million. This means if you’re looking for a larger loan it’s best to look at other options.

Best Portfolio Lender for Blanket Mortgages: CoreVest

CoreVest is our pick as the best portfolio lender for blanket mortgages. A blanket mortgage is a loan that finances multiple properties together under a single mortgage. By comparison, Lima One Capital doesn’t offer a blanket mortgage and PGIM’s blanket mortgage has a minimum loan amount of $5 million.

CoreVest offers blanket mortgages that start at $500k and can finance multiple properties with 1 – 5+ units. The maximum loan amount for a CoreVest blanket mortgage is $100m and they typically cap the loans at 75% loan-to-value (LTV). They’re the most flexible lender when it comes to personal credit score, considering borrowers with scores as low as 600. This is in contrast to Lima One Capital and PGIM’s 660+ minimum credit score requirement.

Like the other two portfolio lenders on our list, CoreVest offers term loans on properties with 1 – 4 units. Like Lima One Capital, they offer a short-term bridge loan with terms between 1 – 3 years. They also offer a short-term line of credit on properties with 1 – 5+ units, the only lender on our list with this type of offer.

However, if you’re looking for a multifamily loan on a single property, Lima One Capital or PGIM might be better. Both lenders offer a multifamily term loan while CoreVest offers multifamily financing through its blanket mortgages or lines of credit only.

Good Portfolio Lender for Loans Above $5 Million: PGIM Real Estate Finance

PGIM Real Estate Finance is a large portfolio lender that offers the highest loan amounts on our list. Their loan amounts range from $5 million – $200 million, which is significantly higher than both Lima One Capital’s $4 million max and even CoreVest’s $100 million max loan amount.

Further, PGIM Real Estate Finance is a great alternative option to both CoreVest and Lima One Capital. For example, PGIM offers term loans on properties with 5+ units while CoreVest doesn’t. PGIM also offers blanket mortgages while Lima One Capital doesn’t.

The interest rates on a PGIM Real Estate Finance portfolio loan can be either fixed or variable and are typically comparable to those found on a CoreVest loan. However, their minimum loan amount is $5 million, making them an unlikely source of financing for many new to real estate investing. Further, their maximum loan term is 20 years, limiting a person’s long-term loan options.

In-Depth Review: CoreVest vs. Lima One Capital vs. PGIM Real Estate Finance

Typical Loan Amount

Portfolio lenders issue loans that aren’t regulated by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. This means that they can feasibly offer loans as high as their balance sheets will allow. This is in contrast to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both of which limit loans to under $1 million.

The industry standard for loan amounts ranges widely. Portfolio loans can range between $50k – $200m and higher.

However, most portfolio lenders will limit loan amounts to 75% – 80% of the purchase price. For fix-and-flip projects, portfolio lenders will typically issue loans up to 75% of a property’s purchase price plus renovation budget, known as the after-repair-value (ARV).

Typical Down Payment

As you saw above, the maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of these portfolio lenders will dictate how much money you have to put down as a borrower. The industry standard for a down payment on portfolio mortgages is between 20% – 25% of a property’s purchase price.

Interest Rates

The interest rates on a portfolio loan, like other loans, dictates the amount of monthly interest you’ll pay over the life of the loan. Portfolio lenders can offer fully amortized payments of principal plus interest or interest-only payments and repayment of the loan at the end of its term.

Interest rates in the industry can range from as low as 4% to as high as 12%. Hard money lenders, for example, will have higher interest rates while more traditional portfolio lenders will have lower interest rates.

CoreVest: CoreVest has interest rates that range from 5% – 8%. Larger loan amounts typically result in lower interest rates, but not only. A borrower’s qualifications will often dictate the size of their interest payments. Interest payments are fully amortized over the life of the loan.

PGIM Real Estate Finance: PGIM Real Estate Finance, like CoreVest, has interest rates that range from 5% – 8%. Interest rates are typically higher for shorter terms and lower loan amounts and lower for longer terms and larger loan amounts.

Like the other portfolio lenders on our list, PGIM Real Estate Finance will use borrower qualifications when assessing potential interest rates.

Costs

Since portfolio loans aren’t regulated by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the costs and fees associated with portfolio lenders can vary widely. However, the industry has become fairly standardized as lenders move online, and it’s typical to see such costs as origination fees and prepayment penalties as well as the standard costs of closing.

Lima One Capital: Lima One Capital typically has the following fees:

• Loan Origination Fees: 0% – 3.5%
• Closing Costs: 2% – 5%
• Prepayment Penalty: 1%

However, Lima One Capital doesn’t have a prepayment penalty for its fix-and-flip loans. For fix-and-flip loans, loan origination fees start at 3.5% and decline based on the experience of the fix-and-flip investor.

CoreVest: CoreVest typically has the following costs for all of its loans:

• Loan Origination Fees: 0% – 1%
• Closing Costs: 2% – 5%
• Prepayment Penalty: 1%

PGIM Real Estate Finance: PGIM Real Estate Finance, like the other two portfolio lenders in our buyer’s guide, has the same standard 3 fees:

• Loan Origination Fees: 0% – 1%
• Closing Costs: 2% – 5%
• Prepayment Penalty: 1%

Term

The terms on a portfolio loan can also vary widely. For example, you might find a short-term bridge loan with a 1-year term as well as a 30-year blanket mortgage. Depending on the portfolio lender, it’s possible to find loans of almost any term, with 30 years as the typical cap.

Lima One Capital: Lima One Capital is the only portfolio lender on our list that offers fix-and-flip loans, which are short-term loans that finance the purchase and sometimes renovation of an investment property. The term on these types of loans is 1 – 2 years with no early prepayment penalty.

The portfolio lender also offers term loans on properties with 1 – 4 units and multifamily loans on properties with 5+ units. The typical term for these types of loans is 30 years.

CoreVest: CoreVest is a fairly standard portfolio lender in that they offer 30-year term loans for investment properties with 1 – 4 units. They also offer blanket mortgages for multiple investment properties in a portfolio with terms between 5 – 10 years. Each of these homes can have 1 – 5+ units. When it comes to their short-term loans, CoreVest offers lines of credit with terms between 18 – 24 months as well as short-term bridge loans with terms between 1 – 3 years.

PGIM Real Estate Finance: PGIM Real Estate Finance is unique on our list is that they offer general purpose portfolio loans with terms between 3 – 20 years. These loans can be either term loans on properties with 1 – 4 units or multifamily financing on properties with 5+ units.

Time to Preapproval

Since portfolio lenders aren’t required to adhere to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac requirements, the approval process is largely at their discretion. Still, most lenders, even the more traditional banks, will typically offer a 24-hour preapproval process.

Preapproval gives you general loan numbers, including maximum loan amount and expected interest rate and repayment term. Once you find a property to purchase, you’ll need to provide additional documentation to lock in the loan amount and interest rate.

Lima One Capital: Lima One Capital, like CoreVest, has a preapproval timeline of 24 hours. You’ll provide your personal credit score as well as personal and business income. In return, you’ll be able to see your potential loan amount and interest rate.

 CoreVest: CoreVest has a standard timeline to preapproval of 24 hours. During this process, you’ll typically have to give them your personal credit score as well as your income or the income of your company.

PGIM Real Estate Finance: PGIM Real Estate Finance, like the other two portfolio lenders on our list, has a 24-hour preapproval timeline. Also similarly, you’ll need to provide your personal credit score and personal and/or business income.

Time to Funding

Another important part of the portfolio loan timeline is the time it actually takes to receive your funds. This is known as the “time to funding.” It represents the time from the initial preapproval application to the time when the loan hits your bank account or is sent to a title company.

The typical time to funding for a permanent portfolio loan is typically between 30 – 45 days. The time to funding for short-term loan such as a fix-and-flip loan, however, can be as little as 10 – 15 days.

Lima One Capital: Lima One Capital has a time to funding between 30 – 45 days for its term loans and multifamily loans. It has a time to funding around 15 days for its fix-and-flip loans.

 CoreVest: CoreVest has a standard time to funding between 30 – 45 days for its term loans as well as its blanket mortgages. The portfolio lender offers lines of credit that can close within 15 – 30 days.

PGIM Real Estate Finance: PGIM Real Estate Finance, like CoreVest, has a time to funding that’s typically between 30 – 45 days. This is the case for its term loans as well as its blanket mortgages.

Loan Options

A “portfolio loan” is a broad term that means any loan in which the lender keeps it on its balance sheet as an investment. This means that portfolio lenders can offer a wide range of different loan options. These options include term loans, fix-and-flip loans, hard money loans, rehab loans, blanket mortgages, multifamily loans, apartment loans, and more.

CoreVest: CoreVest is a standard portfolio lender that offers the following loans:

• Term loans ($67.5k – $4m): 1 – 4 unit properties
• Blanket Mortgages ($500k – $100m): 5+ properties under a single loan (multiple units)
• Lines of Credit ($1m – $50m): Individual or multiple properties between 1 – 5+ units
• Short-Term Bridge Loans ($250k – $3mm): Single asset with 1 – 5+ units

The term loans and blanket mortgages are standard permanent loans with terms between 5 – 30 years. The line of credit is a short-term loan with terms between 1 – 2 years.

Lima One Capital: Lima One Capital is the only portfolio lender on our list that offers both short-term as well as permanent financing. Specifically, they offer the following loans:

• Fix-and-flip loans ($50k – $4m): finances the purchase and renovation of a property
• Term loans ($50k – $4m): 1 – 4 unit properties
• Multifamily loans ($50k – $4m): 5+ unit properties

This is the widest variety of loans on our list of best portfolio lenders. Fix-and-flip loans include purchase-only, rehab, construction loans and cash out refinances. These range of options can help an investor make money flipping houses.

Purchase-only loans are for investors looking to acquire an investment property with no construction. Rehab loans are for investors looking to purchase and renovate an investment property. Construction loan financing construction of a building on an existing plot of land and cash out refinances help investors extract equity from an existing property.

PGIM Real Estate Finance: PGIM Real Estate Finance offers the most general purpose portfolio loans on our list. For example, they consider their portfolio loan a single type of loan, with the ability to finance 1 – 5+ unit properties as well as multiple properties under one loan.

It’s easiest, however, to think of their offerings as 3 separate loans:

• Term loans ($5m – $200m): 1 – 4 unit properties
• Multifamily loans ($5m – $200m): 5+ unit properties
• Blanket Mortgages ($5m – $200m): 2+ properties under a single loan

Bottom Line

Portfolio lenders issue loans that remain on their balance sheet as an investment. Their loans can be both short-term and permanent and are a great option for real estate investors. We looked at the available portfolio lenders and chose CoreVest, Lima One Capital, and PGIM as the best.

Lima One Capital is our pick as the best portfolio lender for 2018. They offer short-term fix-and-flip loans as well as longer-term permanent loans. They can finance 1 – 5+ unit properties between $50k – $4m and have construction, purchase-only, rehab, and cash out refinance fix-and-flip loans. Check out your options today:

Visit Lima One Capital