Yes, you can get a fix and flip loan with no experience. Plenty of private lenders — including us — will fund a first-time flipper. Our fix and flip program lists experience as "None required." What a lender needs from a first-timer isn't a track record; it's a deal with enough margin, a believable rehab budget, cash for your share and your reserves, and a clear exit. Get those right and your lack of experience matters a lot less than you'd think.
Here's how lenders look at a first deal, and how to put yours in front of them so the answer comes back yes.
Why experience matters to a lender (and what replaces it)
Lenders like experience because it's evidence. Someone who's finished five flips has shown they can estimate a rehab, manage contractors, and sell a house. A first-timer hasn't shown that yet, so the lender looks for other evidence that the project will get finished and the loan will get paid off.
That evidence comes from four places:
- The deal itself. A property bought well, with real equity after the rehab, protects everyone if something goes wrong.
- The plan. A line-item budget and a realistic timeline show you've done the homework.
- Your cash. Money in the deal and money in reserve show you can absorb the surprises every flip has.
- Your team. A contractor with a track record can stand in for one you don't have yet.
Experience can still affect pricing and leverage at many lenders. But a strong first deal will usually get a better reception than a weak deal from someone with ten flips behind them.
Step 1: Find a deal with real margin
The single biggest predictor of a successful first flip is buying right. Lenders will size your loan off two numbers:
- Total cost — the purchase price plus the rehab budget. Our program lends up to 90% of it.
- After-repair value (ARV) — what the house will be worth when it's done. We lend no more than 75% of it.
The loan is the lower of the two. If you're new to these terms, LTC vs. LTV vs. ARV explains each one.
Here's why that matters for a first-timer. If your total cost is close to the ARV, the ARV limit kicks in, the loan shrinks, and you have to bring more cash. More importantly, there's no room for error. A deal where the total cost is comfortably below the ARV leaves space for the budget to run over and the house to sell for a little less than you hoped — which is exactly what tends to happen on a first flip.
A quick gut check: add up the purchase price, the rehab, your closing and selling costs, and several months of holding costs. If that total doesn't leave a meaningful profit below a conservative ARV, keep looking. The fix and flip calculator runs this for you.
Step 2: Build a budget a lender will believe
"About $50K" is a guess. A lender wants a scope of work: what you're doing, room by room, and what each piece costs.
A believable rehab budget usually has:
- Line items — roof, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, kitchen, baths, flooring, paint, exterior, permits.
- Real quotes for the big-ticket items, ideally from the contractor who'll do the work.
- A contingency — a cushion for what you'll find when the walls come open. Older houses almost always have something.
- A timeline — how long each phase takes, and when the house will be ready to list.
If you've never built a rehab budget, walk the property with a contractor before you make an offer. Their estimate is part of your evidence.
Step 3: Line up your cash — all of it
First-time flippers most often underestimate how much cash a flip takes. Lenders won't fund 100% of a deal — we treat 100% financing requests as a non-starter — so you'll need money for:
- Your share of the purchase and rehab — the difference between total cost and the loan.
- Closing costs and points on the purchase.
- Holding costs — interest, taxes, insurance, and utilities every month you own it.
- Reserves — cash set aside for the surprise you didn't budget for.
Reserves are the one first-timers skip, and they're the one that saves deals. Projects take longer than planned. Usually they do. A lender who sees reserves sees a borrower who can get through month seven without panicking.
Step 4: Know your exit
How will the loan get paid off? There are two answers, and either is fine:
- Sell it. Show the comps that support your ARV and a realistic time to sell.
- Keep it. Refinance into a long-term rental loan once it's fixed and leased. That's the BRRRR play, and the refinance has to work on paper too — see what is a DSCR loan?
Our fix and flip term is 12 months (18 optional). Make sure your timeline fits comfortably inside it.
Step 5: Set up the paperwork
Before you apply, get the basics in place:
- An entity. We lend to LLCs and corporations, not individuals. Set one up before you're under contract, if you can. (Why lenders require an LLC.)
- A personal guarantee. Our loans are full recourse, so you'll guarantee the loan personally. Understand what that means before you sign.
- Your credit. There's no minimum FICO for our fix & flip program, but stronger credit gets better pricing.
- Proof of funds. Bank statements that show your cash for the deal and your reserves.
Step 6: Package the deal
Put it all in one place: the address, purchase price, purchase contract, scope of work and budget, ARV and comps, your exit, and your cash. Then either apply through our lending portal or send it through our deal form if you want us to look first.
A complete package gets a faster, clearer answer. If something's missing, we'll tell you what.
Mistakes that sink first deals
- Falling in love with the house. Buy the numbers, not the kitchen.
- Using the most optimistic comp for the ARV. Use the comps an appraiser will use.
- Skipping the contingency. The walls always have something to say.
- Running out of cash before the house sells. That's what reserves are for.
- Doing the work yourself to "save money" when your time would be better spent managing the project and finding the next deal. (Unless you're genuinely a contractor.)
What we'll tell you
If your first deal works, we'll fund it — or, if it doesn't fit our box, we'll find the lender it does fit. If it doesn't work, we'll tell you why and what would change that: a lower price, a tighter budget, more cash, a different exit. Either way, you get a straight answer before you've spent money on inspections and appraisals.
A worked example of how we size a loan is on our fix and flip loans page.
Business-purpose, non-owner-occupied only; entity borrowers (LLC or corporation) required; full recourse. Rates shown are the lowest offered and depend on borrower FICO, experience, and the deal. Points and fees vary. *Stabilized Bridge offers a no-DSCR option for properties listed for sale and a 1.10x exit-DSCR option for rent-ready properties. Not available in every state. Nothing here is a commitment to lend or an offer of specific terms; all loans subject to underwriting and approval.