First there were mortgages – useless to Michigan real estate investors unless you were buying pretty houses for renting.

Then there was hard money – a very expensive option for people who want to fix and flip. Not uncommon to see 7,8,10 points up front and interest rates as high as 20%. A point is 1% so 7 points on borrowing $100,000 is $7,000 in fees. Ouch…

It was not this easy five years ago. I was conducting the training / mastermind session last night for my Inner Circle members and there were few people in the room who have been around the block – 5 years or more and we all agreed that what we have right now was not there five years ago.

Business credit was the first thing that made easier for all of us. $35,000 of cash financing that you could get in 24 hours was pretty nice to have. I was jumping up and down in happiness when I got my first $100,000 in business credit 3 years ago.

And now my members are getting $200,000 in their first 30 days in real estate investing from a bank we found. Amazing!!!

But now there is something even better in Michigan – what I have been calling half jokingly the Soft Lenders. These banks are lending money just to Michigan real estate investors at terms that would have sounded impossible only 18 months ago. 2-3 points up front, money for one year, fixed rates, no headaches over appraisals and your FICO only needs to be 640 and above – this is yet another step toward the mainstreaming of real estate investing.

The “I don’t have money so I can’t do real estate” thing is becoming a thing of past in Michigan right in front of my eyes.

What is going to happen to traditional hard money lenders? Nothing! They will still serve the niche of real estate investors with bruised credit who will have no choice but to pony up the fees.

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michigan, michigan real estate, michigan foreclosures, michigan foreclosure, short sale, short sale michigan, michigan hard money lender, mark ijlal