Hard Money Basics
ARV: After-Repair Value Explained
No jargon and no sales pitch. This is how we explain it at the Averlend desk, with the math that matters.
Hard Money Basics
The short version, then the substance.
Key Takeaways
- The number the whole flip hangs on
- How to support an ARV
- How lenders pressure-test it
The number the whole flip hangs on. ARV is what the property will sell for after the renovation, supported by comparable sales. Every other number in a flip flows from it: the max purchase price, the loan size, and the profit. Get the ARV wrong and nothing downstream can save you.
How to support an ARV. Closed sales, not listings. Same neighborhood, similar size and bed-bath count, sold in the last 90 to 180 days, renovated to the standard you will deliver. Three solid comps beat ten stretchy ones.
How lenders pressure-test it. We pull our own comps and walk the logic. If your ARV survives that conversation, your deal is strong. If it only works with a comp from the nicer neighborhood across the highway, we will tell you straight before it costs you money.
The South Texas angle. Averlend underwrites this every week in San Antonio and across Bexar County. If you are working a deal in Alamo Heights or anywhere else in the metro, the theory above comes with a local desk attached: see our San Antonio lending page or send the deal directly.
Questions
Quick answers from the Averlend desk.
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