Hard Money Lenders in Knoxville, TN | Capital Kings LLC
Capital Kings LLC · Non-QM Mortgage Broker

Hard Money Lenders inKnoxville, Tennessee

Fix and flip, bridge and purchase only, DSCR rental and new construction financing for Knoxville investors. We do not lend our own money, we shop your deal across a 400+ lender network and come back with real terms you can compare on total cost.

Get a term sheet →Price a Knoxville deal

Prefer to talk it through? Call or text Micah at (281) 636-5682.

Reviewed by Micah Foster, Founder & CEO, October 2026

Price a Knoxville deal right now

Prefilled with a realistic Knoxville deal. Change any number and it reprices on the programs that lend in Tennessee, with the same math as our term sheets.

Sizing your flip on the same terms as the term sheet. Get a real term sheet →

Financing a deal in Knoxville

Knoxville is a university and government town with a big regional pull. The University of Tennessee, the hospitals, TVA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory down the road keep jobs steady, and the Smokies bring in out-of-state movers. The flip stock is 1900s to 1930s houses north and east of downtown, plus 1950s ranches in Fountain City, Inskip and South Knoxville.

Knoxville flips live on hills. Many of the best older neighborhoods sit on steep lots with stone or block foundations, and the cost of fixing drainage, retaining walls and crawl spaces can be bigger than the kitchen. We want the site work priced before the cosmetic scope. South Knoxville’s trail system and the North Knoxville historic neighborhoods carry the strongest resale, so that is where the larger renovations pay back.

What a Knoxville deal looks like on paper

Knoxville example: $200,000 purchase, $55,000 rehab, $365,000 after repair value, 700 credit, first flip. The engine puts that borrower on the Best Rate program at 9.49%. Picture a 1920s frame house in North Knoxville on a sloped lot, with a stacked stone foundation, a dirt crawl space, plaster walls and a kitchen from the 1970s. Every number below is what the instant term sheet prints for that deal, so the picture cannot contradict the page.

Loan amount$225,000
Cash to close$43,323
Proof of funds to show$68,849
Where the $43,323 goes
  • Down payment (15% of the purchase)You$30,000
  • Origination (0.5%)Lender$2,000
  • Lender fees (flat)Lender$1,989
  • Broker fee (1%)Broker$2,250
  • Title and closing (estimate at Texas rates)Title$3,448
  • Prepaid interest (15 days)Lender$663
  • Property insuranceInsurer$2,423
  • AppraisalAppraiser$550

Interest while you rehab: $1,344 a month on the $170,000 funded at closing, $1,779 once every draw is out. Proof of funds is cash to close plus $14,850 of rehab reserve and $10,676 of interest reserve. Sample borrower, sample address; the sheet is issued by the same engine as the borrower’s instant term sheet.

Fix and flip programs in Knoxville

Swipe the table for rates, credit and terms →

ProgramDown paymentMin creditExperienceRateOriginationMax loanTermClose
Best Rate15% of purchase700+First flip OK8.99% to 9.49%0.5%70% of ARV12 months5-14 days
New Investor Program12.5% of purchase700+First flip OK9.75%1%75% of ARV12 months72 hours
First Flip, 10% Down110% of purchase + rehab660+First flip OK9.99%2%75% of ARV12 months21-30 days
7.5% Down, 3+ Flips27.5% of purchase + rehab660+3+ completed flips9.99%1.5%75% of ARV12 months21-30 days
5% Down, 5+ Flips35% of purchase660+5+ completed flips9.99% to 10.99%2%75% of ARV9-24 months10-14 days
100% Financing, 2+ Flips40% (100% financing)620+2+ completed flips9.50% to 12.00%2.5%70% of ARV9 months7-14 days
Fastest Close (3 days)10% of purchaseNo minimumFirst flip OK11.99%2%75% of ARV6 months72 hours
  1. Rate 9.99% with 2% to 2.25% origination by credit; more origination buys the rate down as far as 8.99%. Loans under $150,000 add 0.5% to the rate and 0.5% to the origination, under $100,000 1.5% and 1%. Under 680 credit the loan caps at 87.5% of cost. Standard interest, charged only on funds drawn. The loan is capped at a share of purchase plus rehab, the full rehab held back for draws, and the ARV must be at least 1.25 times purchase plus rehab. Processing $500, legal $1,495 and underwriting $795.
  2. Rate 9.99% with 1.5% to 1.75% origination by credit; more origination buys the rate down as far as 8.99%. Loans under $150,000 add 0.5% to the rate and 0.5% to the origination, under $100,000 1.5% and 1%. Under 680 credit the loan caps at 90% of cost. Standard interest, charged only on funds drawn. The loan is capped at a share of purchase plus rehab, the full rehab held back for draws, and the ARV must be at least 1.25 times purchase plus rehab. Processing $500, legal $1,495 and underwriting $795.
  3. Rate is set per file from 9.99%; origination about 2% plus a $995 processing fee.
  4. Needs 2 completed flips in the last two years and about $75,000 in verified liquidity. Rate 9.5% to 12% with 2% to 3% origination, set per file. Purchase plus rehab must fit under 70% of ARV.

Origination has a $2,000 minimum on most programs (a few lenders set a higher one, noted above) and our broker fee is 1% with a $2,000 minimum and a $10,000 maximum. These are the numbers our term sheets use as of October 2026. Strong credit, cash and a track record can price lower through specific lenders in the network.

Where Knoxville prices sit right now

Before we price a Knoxville flip, we look at where sales in the city sit today. Your block can run well above or below these numbers, so treat them as the starting point, not the answer.

Redfin puts the Knoxville median sale price at $325K for the three months ending September 2026, up 3.1% on a year earlier, with homes selling in around 56 days. The median price per square foot is $224, flat on the year.

Median sale price (Redfin)$325K
Change from a year earlierup 3.1%
Days on market (Redfin)56
Median price per square foot$224

Sources: Redfin, Knoxville housing market

How a Knoxville file actually gets priced

Appraisers in Knoxville separate the historic overlay neighborhoods from the ranch streets a few blocks out, and they discount houses on hard lots. We set the after repair value on renovated sales from the same neighborhood and the same lot type. Prices are flat on a per square foot basis this year, so we use recent closings, not last spring’s.

East Tennessee sits on limestone, so sinkholes and settling show up, and radon is common enough that buyers often test for it. Crawl spaces on old lots take on water, and stone foundations need repointing. Fourth and Gill, Old North Knoxville and Parkridge are historic overlay districts where exterior work goes through the Historic Zoning Commission. First Creek and Second Creek flood in heavy rain.

Who buys your finished Knoxville deal

The finished Knoxville house sells to a UT or hospital employee, a young family or a buyer moving in from out of state. Most finance conventional, so radon, moisture and structural items need to be handled before listing. Near campus and in Fountain City, a long-term rental on a DSCR loan is a solid plan B.

What happens after you apply

Apply once and the whole Knoxville loan lives in the borrower portal: the term sheet you can accept and sign in the browser, where the loan stands, one place for documents, and the list of what the lender is still waiting on. These are real screens from the portal.

Capital Kings borrower portal: Welcome to your file
Welcome to your fileSign in and the term sheet is waiting, with every fee and who it goes to.
Capital Kings borrower portal: Where the loan stands
Where the loan standsApplication, appraisal, title, underwriting, clear to close.
Capital Kings borrower portal: Run the deal again
Run the deal againThe analyzer priced off your real numbers, before and after the appraisal.
Capital Kings borrower portal: What the lender still needs
What the lender still needsEvery open condition, what clears it, and who it is waiting on.

The full walkthrough is on how it works, and you can tour the borrower portal before you apply.

What we fund in Knoxville

Fix and flip

10%down on a first flip
Rates
from 8.99% at 760+ credit
With experience
0% down with 2+ completed flips, purchase plus rehab under 70% of ARV
Rehab
100% funded, paid in draws
Fix and flip loans in Tennessee →

Rental (DSCR)

7.00%rates from, 30-year fixed
Qualify on
the rent, no W-2s or tax returns
Down
from 20% at 700+ credit
Good for
buy-and-hold, and the refinance when a flip becomes a rental
DSCR loans in Tennessee →

Bridge and purchase only

12.5%down at 700+ credit, no rehab in the loan
Rates
from 9.75% at 680+ credit
Close
in 5-14 days
Good for
auction buys, off-market deals and 1031 timing

New construction

95%of cost with a financed interest reserve, after 1 completed build
Rates
from 8.49% with 5+ completed builds
First build
85% of cost with a GC who has 5+ builds
Builds
single family to small multifamily
New construction loans in Tennessee →

Where we lend in Knoxville

We broker deals across the whole Knoxville market. The submarkets investors ask us about most are Fourth and Gill and Old North Knoxville (37917), Fountain City (37918), Parkridge (37915 / 37917), South Knoxville (37920), Holston Hills (37914) and Inskip and Norwood (37912).

How long does a Knoxville loan take to fund?

You send the address, purchase price, rehab budget and your ARV, which takes about five minutes and no credit pull. We take it to the lenders in our network that fit it and are licensed in Tennessee, and the rate, origination, leverage and cash to close come back side by side. 5-14 days to fund, as little as 72 hours on the fastest programs. We stay on title and the lender through funding.

Knoxville hard money FAQ

Do you lend hard money in Knoxville?
Yes. Capital Kings is a broker, not a direct lender, so we shop your Knoxville scenario across a 400+ lender network and bring back real terms instead of one lender’s rate sheet. The programs on this page are the ones whose lenders are licensed in Tennessee, and the numbers come from the same engine that prices our instant term sheet.
Which fix and flip programs apply in Knoxville?
As of October 2026: Best Rate (15% down, from 8.99%); New Investor Program (12.5% down, from 9.75%); First Flip, 10% Down (10% down, from 9.99%); 7.5% Down, 3+ Flips (7.5% down, from 9.99%, 3+ completed flips); 5% Down, 5+ Flips (5% down, from 9.99%, 5+ completed flips); 100% Financing, 2+ Flips (100% financing when purchase plus rehab fits under 70% of ARV, from 9.50%, 2+ completed flips); Fastest Close (3 days) (10% down, from 11.99%). Rehab is funded 100 percent in draws on every one of them, and we shop the file against the rest of the network before anything is signed.
How fast can a Knoxville hard money loan close?
As little as 72 hours. Most Knoxville fix and flip files fund in 5-14 days once the file is complete, and the 72-hour programs close that fast when title and insurance are ready. The First Flip, 10% Down program and the 7.5% Down, 3+ Flips program close in 21-30 days. The biggest delays are usually title issues or missing borrower documents, so getting those started early makes a big difference.
How much do I need to bring to close on a Knoxville flip?
The worked example on this page is a $200,000 Knoxville purchase with a $55,000 rehab and a $365,000 after repair value at 700 credit, first flip: $30,000 down (15% of the purchase) and $43,323 total cash to close, with $68,849 of proof of funds to show the lender. The lowest down payment for a first flip in Knoxville is 10% down from 9.99% at 660+ credit. Investors with a track record can go to 0% down (100% financing) from 9.50% at 620+ credit with 2+ completed flips, when purchase plus rehab fits under 70% of ARV, and you still bring the closing costs in cash. Rehab is funded 100 percent through draws in every case. Run your own numbers in the calculator above, or send us the deal and we will price it.
Do you fund the rehab budget in Knoxville?
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 Knoxville fix and flip loan?
One Knoxville program has no credit floor at all, it is priced on speed rather than credit. The lowest rate here, 8.99%, needs 760+ credit. Depending on the program, rates step down at 700 and 760 credit and origination steps down at 700 and 740. Credit matters less here than on a conventional loan because the deal carries the file, but it moves your rate and your leverage, so know where you stand before you make offers.
Can I refinance a Knoxville flip into a rental loan?
Yes. That is the BRRRR exit, and it is the most common way a Knoxville 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.
Should I worry about radon on a Knoxville flip?
Plan for it. East Tennessee has a lot of radon, and many buyers test during their inspection. Testing early and installing a mitigation system if needed costs much less than renegotiating with a buyer at the last minute. Put it in the budget from the start.
How do historic overlays affect a North Knoxville rehab?
In Fourth and Gill, Old North Knoxville and Parkridge, exterior changes need a certificate from the Historic Zoning Commission before the permit. That covers windows, siding, porches, roofing material and additions. Interior work doesn’t. Submit the exterior plans soon after closing so the review runs alongside the interior work.
Micah Foster
Micah Foster
Founder & CEO, Capital Kings LLC
Micah brokers Non-QM and hard money loans for real estate investors across 38 states from his base in Texas. He founded Capital Kings to give investors a broker who shops the market on their behalf instead of pitching one lender product.

What to read before you sign a term sheet

Hard money near Knoxville: Chattanooga, Nashville and Asheville. More Tennessee city guides: Franklin, Memphis and Murfreesboro. Or see everything we fund in Tennessee.

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