Grand Forks is the third largest city in the state of North Dakota and it has a population of almost 60,000 people. Only Fargo and Mismarck are bigger cities than Grand Forks. It is also known as “The Grand Cities” or “The Forks,” and Grand Forks has a reputation for being home to the University of North Dakota, which is the oldest public university in the state. It’s also home to the Grand Forks International Airport and Grand Forks Air Force Base.
Grand Forks also has an urban-suburban feel where residents can rent their homes. A lot of young professionals live in Grand Forks. Public schools are also highly rated in Grand Forks. Grand Forks has a median home value of $210,300 and a median rent of $811. It has the second-best public school system in North Dakota, and is one of the best places to invest in real estate in North Dakota.
While Grand Forks can have very cold winters, it is also home to a robust hockey fanbase, especially with the rise of the University of North Dakota hockey team. Due to Grand Forks being a college town, rental demand among students, academics, and school employees is high. Grand Forks has a median home value of $210,300 and a median rent of $811. More people rent than own their homes in the city.
Grand Forks has been a buyer’s market, but since the pandemic, Grand Forks became a seller’s market. There has been an explosion in home prices during a pandemic surge in housing demand. In this present moment, demand is rapidly outpacing supply in Grand Forks. Real estate investors have to put fast bids to compete in bidding wars for prime property.
Hard money loans might be the best way to invest in real estate in Grand Forks. These loans have a reputation of mostly being used for real estate transactions like fix and flips and long-term rentals, the latter of which has huge demand in Grand Forks. Hard money loans are otherwise known as short-term bridge loans or last resort loans, but their biggest advantage in a seller’s market is they can be approved very quickly. The average mortgage can take over a month to be approved, but a hard money loan can take a couple of days to be approved.
Hard money loans use the property and the after repair value of the property as the basis of the terms and rates of a loan, which is the reason why they can be approved so quickly. By contrast, mortgages use the financial standing and credit score of a borrower as the basis of a loan. Since hard money loans use the property as collateral, if a borrower defaults on the property, the lender takes on the property, which is much faster than the foreclosure process for a traditional mortgage loan.
Because of this added risk, hard money loans have more unforgiving terms and rates than mortgages. They have much higher interest rates of 8–15%, which are significantly higher than those of traditional mortgage loans (just over 4% on average). They have repayment periods of more or less a year, which is much shorter than repayment periods of traditional mortgage loans, which can go up to 30 years. Lastly, hard money loans have much lower LTV ratios than traditional mortgages, which means they require higher down payments on average.
This means it’s important not to trust any hard money lender. It’s essential to only trust the best. At Hard Money Lenders IO, we have you covered. We have found the best hard money lenders in Grand Forks to finance your real estate investment.
