Fayetteville NC 100% Fix and Flip Financing Case Study

Investor challenge

A first-time Fayetteville sponsor found a Fort Bragg-adjacent ranch with strong ARV lift but only $3,000 liquid and a 600 FICO. Conventional and most hard money shops required 20%–25% cash in — killing the spread before rehab started.

Jaken Finance Group’s solution

Jaken Finance Group structured 100% LTC hard money at 11.25% interest-only on a file where ARV, scope, and resale liquidity supported full leverage. Proof of funds on Day 2 beat a conventional buyer; file closed on Day 8 with LLC vesting and milestone draws tied to scope.

Outcome

After $46,000 rehab and 4.5-month hold, the property sold at $248,000 ARV for ~$31,200 net profit. The sponsor recycled capital into a second Cumberland County acquisition.

Fayetteville SFR flips: Fix and flip loans Fayetteville NC · Fix and flip loans North Carolina · Fix and flip calculator

Acquisition

Property: 3/2 ranch — dated kitchen/baths, functional mechanicals
Purchase: $132,000 · LLC vesting
Close: Day 8 · 100% LTC at 11.25% IO
Cash in: ~$3,000 (EMD + inspection)

Rehab and carry

Scope	Cost
Kitchen + baths	$18,500
Flooring + paint	$9,200
Exterior + landscaping	$8,800
Mechanical buffer	$9,500
Total rehab	$46,000

Hold: 4.5 months · IO carry ~$7,500 · Insurance/utilities ~$1,600

Exit

Line item	Amount
ARV sale	$248,000
Sale costs (8%)	−$19,840
Loan payoff	−$178,000
Cash in + carry	−$12,100
Net profit	~$31,200

How 100% LTC was possible at a 600 FICO

This file looks aggressive until you read it the way an asset-based underwriter does. The decision rested on three numbers, not the credit score: a $132K purchase well under the $248K ARV, a defined $46K scope, and a Fort Bragg-adjacent submarket with fast resale liquidity. With a roughly 72% all-in-to-ARV ratio, the collateral carried the risk — so the lender could cover 100% of purchase and rehab while the sponsor brought only earnest money and the inspection fee.

The score mattered for pricing (11.25% IO), not approval. What protected everyone was the spread and the exit: even with full leverage, 8% sale costs, and 4.5 months of carry, the deal cleared ~$31,200.

Takeaway: 100% LTC is the exception, not the rule, and it only appears when the basis-to-ARV gap is wide enough to absorb full leverage plus carry. Lead with the deal’s math — a strong asset and a credible exit beat a thin file with a high score.

Deal timeline

Week	Milestone
Week 0	Sponsor submits contract on Fort Bragg-adjacent ranch — competing conventional buyer at 30-day close
Day 2	Jaken Finance Group issues proof of funds; seller accepts Jaken Finance Group-backed offer at list
Day 8	Hard money close — LLC vesting, 100% LTC at 11.25% IO
Weeks 2–14	Four milestone draws — kitchen/baths, flooring, exterior, mechanical buffer
Week 16	Property listed at $249,900; first showing weekend
Week 18	Accepted offer at $248,000 — buyer VA financing
Week 20	Sale closed; loan payoff; ~$31,200 net to sponsor LLC

Total calendar from acquisition to sale: 4.5 months — within the 6-month hard money term without extension fees.

Cumberland County market context (2026)

Fayetteville is not a generic Carolina flip market. Fort Bragg and Pope Army Airfield drive steady demand for 3/2 ranch product in the $220K–$260K resale band — the exact exit lane this sponsor targeted. Realtor.com data on FRED puts Cumberland County’s median listing price at $261,375 in September 2026, down from $285,950 a year earlier (MEDLISPRI37051). A renovated ranch competes against that whole inventory, so condition and price point matter more than the countywide median.

Insurance on inland Cumberland SFRs runs $1,400–$1,900/yr — materially lower than coastal NC markets where flood and wind tiers compress flip margins. Property taxes on this file assessed at ~$1,850/yr post-sale — sponsor modeled $155/mo at underwriting, not the seller’s stale bill.

The listing sat in a subdivision with no HOA — a requirement for many first-time flip sponsors who cannot absorb monthly assessment drag on thin spreads. Comparable sales within 0.75 miles supported $245K–$252K ARV on renovated 3/2 ranches with updated kitchens; the sponsor’s $248K exit landed mid-band, not at the optimistic ceiling.

Full economics — sponsor return on cash

Input	Amount
Cash in (EMD + inspection + carry float)	~$12,100
Net profit after sale	~$31,200
Hold period	4.5 months
ROI on cash deployed (hold period)	~258%

The sponsor did not measure success on gross spread alone — $116K ARV lift ($248K − $132K) would look thin after rehab if leverage were not structured correctly. 100% LTC meant the $46K rehab never came out of the sponsor’s pocket; IO carry on the full $178K balance was the only ongoing cash drag beyond utilities and insurance.

Points and fees on the hard money leg (2 points on $178K ≈ $3,560) rolled into the loan at close — the sponsor’s $3,000 liquid never had to cover origination. That structure is why asset-based underwriting mattered more than FICO: the collateral carried the fee load.

Operator lessons

Comp on ARV before you comp on rate. The sponsor lost 0.25% on rate (11.25% vs a hypothetical 11.0% at 680+ FICO) but gained 100% LTC — a trade that added ~$33K of deployable capital vs an 80% LTC file requiring ~$35K down.

Draw discipline on a first deal. Kitchen and bath scope ran $18,500 against a $19,000 budget line — the $9,500 mechanical buffer absorbed a $1,200 HVAC capacitor replacement without a change order. First-time sponsors who zero out contingency lines stall at Draw 3.

Exit buyer pool. The buyer was active-duty military using VA financing — common in this submarket. Sponsor priced the list at $249,900 knowing VA appraisals in Cumberland County typically come within 2% of contract on renovated ranch product. Accepting $248K on Day 5 of marketing avoided a 30-day DOM extension that would have cost ~$1,875 in additional IO carry.

Second deal recycling. Net proceeds funded earnest money on a Spring Lake acquisition ($118K purchase, 85% LTC) within 11 days of Fayetteville sale close — repeat-borrower pricing on the second file came in at 10.75% IO with 87% LTC. See fix and flip loans Fayetteville NC for corridor parameters.

Flip vs BRRRR rejected at LOI

Sponsor modeled BRRRR hold at $1,450/mo market rent — DSCR ~0.94 at 75% LTV on $248K value. Fayetteville SFR cash-flow math in 2026 favors retail exit on sub-$250K assets unless the basis is $100K+ below market. The flip path cleared $31K net; the hold path would have extracted ~$8K at refi with negative cash flow during lease-up. See how a DSCR loan works for ratio gates on military-market rentals.

How 100% LTC is sized — and when it stops working

Full leverage is not a separate product. It is the result of two tests applied at once. Jaken Finance Group sizes flip loans to the lower of loan-to-cost and 75% of after-repair value. When 75% of ARV is below total cost, the sponsor brings the difference.

On this file, 75% of the $248,000 ARV is $186,000. Total cost was $178,000. Because cost sat under the ARV cap, the loan could cover all of it.

Counter-example (hypothetical): A sponsor buys at $150,000 with a $50,000 scope, for $200,000 all-in. ARV is $250,000. The ARV cap is $187,500, so the sponsor brings $12,500 plus closing costs — even on a “100% LTC” program.

The quick test: full leverage needs all-in cost at or below 75% of ARV. This deal was at about 72%. Run your numbers through the fix and flip calculator before you promise a seller a fast, no-money-down close.

A 2026 replay: inventory and days on market

The resale market this sponsor sold into has loosened. Cumberland County data on FRED shows:

Measure	Sep 2026	Sep 2025
Active listings	1,372	1,199
Median days on market	62	58

Sources: ACTLISCOU37051 and MEDDAYONMAR37051.

Inventory rose about 14% in a year. This sponsor went under contract within about two weeks of listing. A replay should budget for the median instead. Interest-only carry on a $178,000 balance at 11.25% is about $1,669 a month. Two extra months on market would add roughly $3,338 before utilities and insurance. That still clears on this spread, but it erases most of the cushion on a thinner deal.

Fayetteville tax, fee, and excise lines

Cumberland County publishes every rate a flip budget needs on its tax rates page:

Line	Rate
County ad valorem rate	$0.499 per $100
City of Fayetteville combined rate (city + county)	$0.9485 per $100
Town of Spring Lake combined rate	$1.29 per $100
City of Fayetteville solid waste fee (7 or fewer units)	$285 a year
County solid waste fee (all areas except Spring Lake)	$130 a year
City of Fayetteville residential stormwater fee	$84–$252 a year, by impervious area

Illustration: Inside Fayetteville city limits, each $100,000 of assessed value costs $948.50 a year before fees. In Spring Lake, the same $100,000 costs $1,290, about 36% more. That gap matters for the sponsor’s second deal, which was a Spring Lake purchase. The assessed value on the bill, not the sale price, drives the number. Pull the parcel’s current assessment before you set the carry budget.

At sale, North Carolina charges an excise tax of $1 per $500 of value, paid by the seller under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-228.30. On a $248,000 sale, that is $496. It belongs inside the 8% sale-cost line, not on top of it.

Rent check on the rejected hold

HUD’s FY 2026 Fair Market Rent for the Fayetteville metro is $1,667 for a three-bedroom, slightly below the FY 2025 figure of $1,678. FMR is a gross-rent benchmark used for housing vouchers, so it includes an allowance for utilities. It is a ceiling check, not a market lease quote.

Illustration (assumed 7.25% rate, 30-year schedule): A 75% loan on $248,000 is $186,000. Principal and interest run about $1,269 a month. Add the $155 monthly tax figure from underwriting and about $140 for insurance, for a total near $1,564.

Monthly rent	Ratio (rent ÷ payment)
$1,450 (modeled market rent)	about 0.93
$1,667 (FY 2026 3-bedroom FMR)	about 1.07

Even at the voucher benchmark, coverage stays thin. That confirms the call made at LOI: on a sub-$250K ranch bought this close to value, the retail sale was the stronger exit. Compare corridor parameters on DSCR loans North Carolina before you underwrite a Cumberland County hold.

Next steps

Model your Fayetteville spread: Fix and flip calculator · Pre-qualify · (833) 264-7776