Amherst is a suburb of Buffalo, which has a population of approximately 130,000 people. It is located in Erie County, New York and the town is home to the north campus of the University of Buffalo as well as campuses of multiple other universities. Amherst is home to the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village, and the city is also some to a variety of festivals every single year.
Amherst is also home to the alumni arena at the University of Buffalo and the Amherst Audobon Field, which is used by the Buffalo Bills. Amherst, New York, is a place that’s very affordable, very close to a major city, and has a low crime rate. It is also very clean with incredible schools.
Niche says Amherst is one of the best places to live in New York with great public schools. It is a great place to raise a family, and the suburb has great night life through restaurants and bars as well. It is home to many young professionals and retirees. For New York, Amherst is very affordable, having a median home value of $202,400 and a median rent of $1,102, which are around the national average for home and rent values.
Right now, Amherst is a seller’s market. Supply is exceeding demand in Amherst. Real estate investors are getting into bidding wars during the housing bubble, which is leading to homes selling faster and higher than listing price.
Hard money loans might be the best way to invest in real estate in Amherst. Hard money loans are also known as short-term bridge loans and last resort loans, but their biggest advantage in a seller’s market like Amherst is their rapid speed of approval. While most traditional mortgage loans can take a month or more to be approved, hard money loans can be approved in a couple of days. Securing this rapid financing in a bidding war is essential to get the investment property of your dreams, and in seller’s markets, traditional financing often cannot meet this demand.
These loans are known particularly for real estate transactions. Hard money loans are usually used for repairing homes in disrepair and house flipping. Hard money loans use the property as both the asset and collateral for the loan, which means they don’t rely as much on financial standing as traditional mortgage loans. This is not to say credit score does not matter — most hard money loans require a minimum credit score of 600 to 620.
Since the property is collateral, if a borrower defaults on a hard money loan, the lender takes on the property. But if a borrower defaults on a mortgage, there are very lengthy foreclosure proceedings.
Because of this, hard money loans are very risky. Hard money loans have plenty of drawbacks compared to traditional mortgage loans, like higher interest rates, shorter repayment periods, and lower LTV ratios. These loans have interest rates between 8–15%, repayment periods of more or less a year, and LTV ratios between 65–75%. Mortgage loans have interest rates of just over 4% on average, repayment periods of 15 to 30 years, and LTV ratios of 80% on average.
It’s essential to only trust the best hard money lenders — not every hard money lender is trustworthy and some tack on extraneous fees like origination fees or closing costs. New investors in particular have to be careful because not every hard money lender gives to new investors, and new investors have to make themselves appealing because they can’t rely on real estate investing experience.
We have you covered at Hard Money Lenders IO — these are the best financing partners and hard money lenders for your real estate investing journey in Amherst.
