Hard Money Lenders in Houston, TX | Fix & Flip Loans | Capital Kings
Broker, not a lender

Hard Money Lenders inHouston, Texas

Fix and flip, bridge, DSCR and new construction financing for Houston investors. We do not lend our own money, we shop your deal across a 350+ lender network and come back with real terms you can compare on total cost.

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Reviewed by Micah Foster, Founder & Mortgage Broker · August 2026
How we work

What you get working with us

350+
Lenders we shop your deal across
7–10
Days to close, typical
100%
Of rehab funded, released in draws
8.99%
Rates from
The market

Financing a deal in Houston

Houston is the deepest fix and flip market in Texas, and it is where most of our loan volume lives. It is a big, uneven market: a 1950s ranch in Oak Forest and a flood-damaged bungalow in the East End are priced by completely different logic, and lenders who do not work here regularly get the ARV wrong in both directions.

Two things decide most Houston deals. First, flood history: anything in a 100-year floodplain or with a prior claim changes both your insurance line and your buyer pool, and some lenders will not touch it at all. Second, the unrestricted-lot problem. Houston has no zoning, so a comp two streets over can sit next to a commercial use and appraise nothing like your subject. We price both of those in before we shop the file, because a lender surprise on either one is what kills a Houston closing at day 12.

Underwriting

How a Houston file actually gets priced

The Houston file that gets repriced late is almost always an ARV problem, not a credit problem. Because the city has no zoning, an appraiser can pull a comp from two streets over that backs onto a commercial lot, and the number lands under what your own comps supported. We set the ARV against finished sales inside the same pocket rather than a half-mile radius, and if the number you sent us is not going to hold, you hear it before the term sheet goes out.

Flood is the Houston underwriting question. A property in a 100-year floodplain, or one with a prior claim on record, changes your insurance line, narrows your resale buyer pool, and takes some lenders off the table entirely. Pull the flood zone before you go under contract rather than after. Buyers here ask, and an unresolved answer costs you weeks on the exit.

The exit

Who buys your finished Houston deal

Most Houston exits we see are retail resales in the 250 to 400 thousand band, which is where the buyer pool is deepest and where financing is easiest for whoever buys from you. Above about 500 thousand, days on market stretch and your carry assumption needs a longer runway. Below about 150 thousand the buyer is often another investor paying cash, so your price matters more than your finish level.

The numbers

What a Houston deal looks like

On our closed Houston dealsMedian
Purchase price$155,000
After repair value$282,500
Spread between the two$114,947
Most common loan typeFix & Flip

Typical of the Houston deals we place, as of August 2026. Your deal will not be the median, but this is the shape of what actually funds here.

Run the numbers

Price a Houston deal right now

Prefilled with a typical Houston deal. Change any number and it reprices instantly, using the same engine behind our term sheets.

Enter your numbers to see the loan size and cash to close.
Get a real term sheet →Same math as our term sheet. No credit pull, nothing saved.
Loan products

What we fund in Houston

Fix & Flip

Purchase plus 100% of rehab, released in draws. The core product in Houston, and the large majority of what we close here.

From 8.99% · up to 90% LTC

DSCR Rental

Qualifies on the property’s rent, not your W-2. The usual exit when a flip becomes a hold, and the long-term financing on a BRRRR.

30-year · no income docs

Bridge & Purchase Only

For clean properties that need speed rather than rehab money. Auction buys, off-market deals, and 1031 timing.

Close in 5–10 days

New Construction

Ground-up for builders and infill developers, with a draw schedule matched to the build timeline.

Land + build financing
Coverage

Where we lend in Houston

We broker deals across the whole Houston market. These are submarkets we see most often:

Oak Forest / Garden Oaks (77018)The Heights (77007)Spring Branch (77055 / 77080)Acres Homes (77088 / 77091)Greenspoint (77060 / 77090)Alief (77072 / 77077)East End (77011 / 77013)Westbury (77035 / 77096)
Process

From deal to funded

01

Send the deal

Address, purchase price, rehab budget and your ARV. Three minutes, no credit pull.

02

We shop it

Your scenario goes to the lenders in our network that actually fit it, not all 350 at once.

03

Real terms back

Rate, points, leverage and cash to close side by side, so you can compare on total cost.

04

Close

7 to 10 days typical. We stay on title and the lender through funding.

Questions

Houston hard money FAQ

Do you lend hard money in Houston?
Yes. Capital Kings is a broker, not a direct lender, so we shop your Houston scenario across a 350+ lender network and bring back real terms instead of one lender’s rate sheet. Houston is an active market for us, and the loans we place here are mostly fix and flip.
How fast can a Houston hard money loan close?
Most Houston fix and flip files close in 7 to 10 business days. Clean files with title opened and the appraisal ordered early can close in as few as 5. The delays we see are almost never the lender, they are title issues and slow document returns on the borrower side.
How much do I need to bring to close on a Houston flip?
Most Houston hard money loans run 10 to 15 percent down on the purchase, plus closing costs and reserves. New investors typically start nearer 15 percent, experienced investors with a track record can get to 10 or below on the right deal, and rehab is funded 100 percent through draws in every case. Run your exact number on our cash to close breakdown, or submit the deal and we will price it.
Do you fund the rehab budget in Houston?
Yes, 100 percent of the rehab is funded, but it is a holdback released in draws rather than cash at closing. You pay for each phase, request a draw, an inspector verifies the work, and the lender reimburses. That means you need working capital to float the first phase, which is the single most common thing new investors miss on their first deal.
What credit score do I need for a Houston fix and flip loan?
Most of our lenders start around 660, and pricing improves meaningfully at 700 and again at 740. Credit matters less here than on a conventional loan because the deal itself carries the file, but it moves your rate and your leverage, so it is worth knowing where you stand before you make offers.
Can I refinance a Houston flip into a rental loan?
Yes. That is the BRRRR exit, and it is the most common way a Houston flip becomes a hold. A DSCR loan qualifies on the property’s rental income rather than your W-2, so once the rehab is done and it is leased, you refinance out of the short-term hard money loan into 30-year financing. Worth deciding before you start, because it changes what finish level makes sense.
Does flood zone affect a Houston hard money loan?
Yes, in two places. Lenders price the insurance escrow off the flood zone, so a property in an A or V zone carries a materially higher monthly line than the same house in an X zone. Some lenders will not lend at all against an open or repeated claim history. Check the zone before you go under contract, because it also decides how large your resale buyer pool is.
Can I get a hard money loan on a Houston property with no zoning protection?
Yes, and most of Houston is exactly that. It matters for the ARV rather than the approval. When a subject property backs onto a commercial or industrial use, appraisers discount it against otherwise similar comps, so we underwrite the ARV against finished sales in the same pocket instead of a straight radius pull.
Who you are working with
Micah Foster
Founder & Mortgage Broker
Micah Foster
Micah brokers Non-QM and hard money loans for real estate investors across 37 states, with most of his volume in the Houston market. He founded Capital Kings to give investors a broker who shops the market on their behalf instead of pitching one lender product.
Send Micah your deal →
Keep reading

Before you sign anything

Cash Needed
Cash to close on a flip: the number most investors miss
Read article →
Term Sheet
How to get an instant hard money term sheet
Read article →
Broker
Direct hard money lender vs broker: the honest breakdown
Read article →
Hard Money
Points, fees & rate: how to compare hard money lenders
Read article →
Hard money in Cypress →Hard money in Spring →All Texas coverage →

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