Lima One fix and flip requirements are a published grid: credit floor, experience lookback, property type, and leverage tiers. Investors search this query after they bounce off Lima One’s FAQ — or after a loan officer says “you need one exit.” This page translates that grid next to Jaken Finance Group’s asset-based box so you know which desk can take the file you actually have.
Full brand compare: Lima One vs Jaken. Rate context: fix and flip loan rates. Apply here: how to get a fix and flip loan.
Investors land here after they bounce off a FAQ — or after a loan officer says “you need one exit.” That is a qualify question, not another vs table.
What Lima One has published on its fix-and-flip FAQ
Lima One Capital’s own product FAQ (public site, 2026 research) has stated, in substance:
- Minimum credit score 660 for a fix-and-flip loan
- One investment-property exit in the last 36 months — flip, sale, or refinance while on title
- More experience unlocks higher leverage and lower rate / origination
- 1–4 units, loan sizes in a published band (often $100K–$5M in marketing)
- Term options advertised around 13 / 19 / 24 months
- Rehab: 100% of budget with draw language (they have marketed fast draws)
- LTC marketed as high as 95% on eligible projects, with an ARV / LTV cap alongside
- Foreign nationals eligible even without a U.S. score (separate process)
- Repeat borrowers close faster than new files (their FAQ has cited about three weeks for many new files)
Those are Lima One’s words, summarized. Overlays change. Print their current FAQ next to this page before you bid.
Jaken Finance Group requirements (published)
| Gate | Jaken Finance Group |
|---|---|
| Occupancy | Non-owner-occupied / business purpose only |
| Experience | No closed-deal minimum — first files fund on ARV, scope, contractor, reserves |
| Credit | Credit-flexible; no published FICO floor on select programs |
| Leverage | Up to 100% LTC qualified; 75% ARV cap |
| Rate | 8.99%–13.5% interest-only |
| Term | 6–12 months |
| Close | 7–10 business days on a complete file |
| Vesting | LLC standard — flip in an LLC |
Full checklist: fix and flip loan requirements. First file: no experience.
Side-by-side — who clears which file
| File | Lima One standard grid (as published) | Jaken Finance Group |
|---|---|---|
| 720 FICO, 4 HUD-1s, SFR | In the grid; shop their tier | In the box; shop leverage |
| 640 FICO, 6 exits | May fail 660 floor | Asset review; rate/LTC adjust |
| 700 FICO, zero investment exits | May fail 36-month exit rule | First-file box; expect 80%–85% LTC |
| Foreign national, no U.S. FICO | Their FAQ says eligible | Foreign national flip |
| Chicago two-flat, messy comps | National SFR template risk | Chicago flip |
| 10-day auction payoff | Institutional clock | Close timeline |
A 660 floor is not a moral judgment. It is a secondary-market / investor-box choice. If your FICO is 640 and your ARV spread is 28%, you are not “unqualified.” You are off their published standard.
Experience: one exit vs. no knockout
Lima One’s “one exit in 36 months” is broader than “one completed flip.” A rental you refinanced can count on their FAQ language. A house you never closed does not.
Jaken Finance Group still likes HUD-1s. We do not require them. The substitute is a licensed GC bid, conservative comps, and liquidity that survives a 10% overrun. That is why first-timers close in Hammond and Rockford files we have already walked on the beginners page.
If you have the exit, send it. It still helps pricing.
LTC marketing vs. the 75% ARV cap
“95% LTC” and “100% rehab” can both be true and still produce an 82% loan if 75% of ARV is lower than 95% of cost. Do the min() on paper before you tell a seller you are “95% financed.”
Example: purchase $180,000 + rehab $70,000 = $250,000 cost. 95% LTC = $237,500. ARV $300,000 × 75% = $225,000. The loan is $225,000, not $237,500. Every serious desk does this. Model it on the calculator.
Documents both desks will ask for
Same stack, different knockout rules:
- Contract and addenda
- Entity docs if LLC
- Line-item scope + bid
- Three sold ARV comps
- Bank statements (all pages)
- Experience schedule / HUD-1s if you have them
- Insurance path
Lima One will weigh (6) as a gate. Jaken Finance Group will weigh (6) as a tier. Missing (3) or (4) kills both.
When Lima One requirements are the better fit
- You clear 660 and the 36-month exit
- You want a published tier you can repeat across states
- Your pipeline is rental-heavy and you want one national brand for flip → hold
- You are not in a 10-day title fight
Use their grid. We would rather lose a clean national SFR than pretend their FAQ does not exist.
When to skip their grid and send the file here
- No investment exit in 36 months
- FICO under their published floor, strong asset
- Focus-market complexity (Cook County, coastal wind, DMV row)
- You need a 7–10 business day story you can write into a contract
Pre-qualify with the same PDF. Do not rewrite the deal to fit a 660 box if the asset already carries it.
What counts as an “exit” — and what does not
Lima One’s published language has been broader than “one completed flip brand.” A rental you sold or refinanced while on title can count. A wholesale assignment you never took title on usually does not. A deal that died at inspection does not. A partner’s HUD-1 that does not list you does not.
Bring the settlement statement. If the name on title is your prior LLC, bring the operating agreement that ties you to that entity. Desks that score experience will not reconstruct your track record from a LinkedIn post.
Jaken Finance Group still likes those HUD-1s. We do not require them. The substitute is a licensed GC bid, conservative comps, and liquidity that survives a 10% overrun. That is the no experience box — first-file leverage, not a marketing floor.
Worked file — first flip vs one documented exit
Same Hammond, Indiana house. Two sponsors.
| Line | Number |
|---|---|
| Purchase | $118,000 |
| Rehab | $42,000 |
| All-in cost | $160,000 |
| Supported ARV | $215,000 |
| 75% ARV | $161,250 |
| Max loan on ARV | $160,000 cost still clears the cap |
Sponsor A — 710 FICO, zero investment exits. Lima One’s standard FAQ lookback may stop the file. Jaken Finance Group can still underwrite the asset. Expect 80%–85% LTC on a first file more often than 100%. On $160,000 cost that is a $128,000–$136,000 loan and $24,000–$32,000 of cash in. Rate sits inside 8.99%–13.5%, usually mid-band until the comps and contractor are boring.
Sponsor B — 680 FICO, one rental refinance 18 months ago. Lima One’s FAQ language can treat that refinance as the 36-month exit. You are in the grid, then their experience tier prices leverage and points. Jaken Finance Group will take the same HUD-1 as a pricing input, not a gate. Shop both. Indiana fix and flip is the state page.
Do not tell the seller you are “fully financed” until the min(LTC, 75% ARV) math is on paper. The calculator will catch that before the term sheet does.
660 FICO is a box, not a character test
A 640 middle score with a paid collection and a 28% ARV spread is a file. A 720 score with no scope and two expired comps is also a file — a worse one.
If you are under a published 660 floor:
- Do not invent a co-borrower who is not on title and not in the LLC
- Do explain the credit event in one paragraph (date, cause, resolved or not)
- Do send bank statements that match the liquidity story
- Do not hide a recent BK or foreclosure — DSCR/bridge after bankruptcy is the adjacent hold product; flip files still need the event dated
Jaken Finance Group is credit-flexible with no published FICO floor on select programs. Low FICO still changes leverage and rate. 500 credit hard money is the credit walkthrough, including the fix-and-flip FAQ.
Term length: 13 / 19 / 24 vs 6–12 months
Lima One has marketed longer fix-and-flip terms (around 13 / 19 / 24 months in public materials). Jaken Finance Group publishes 6–12 months. Longer is not automatically kinder. You pay IO longer, and extension language still matters if you overrun that clock.
Use a longer term when:
- The city permit path is known-slow (decks, egress, historic)
- You are doing a heavy gut with a 4–5 month GC bid plus listing time
- You already know the buyer pool is seasonal
Use a 6–12 month note when the scope is cosmetic or light mechanical and you can list by month four. If you are already late, hard money maturity refinance is the rescue conversation — not a hope that the first desk “understands.”
Foreign nationals and the “no U.S. score” FAQ
Lima One has said foreign nationals can be eligible without a U.S. FICO, on a separate process. That is a hold-or-flip eligibility note, not a second rate card. Jaken Finance Group uses the same hard-money product for foreign-national flips: asset, LLC, wire trail, and AML — not an invented foreign-national LTV grid. Details: foreign national fix and flip loans. Rental holds stay on foreign national DSCR.
If you have a passport, a U.S. LLC, and no FICO, do not apply as if you were a 720 domestic sponsor. Send the entity and source-of-funds stack on day one.
How to use a Lima One decline without wasting a week
A decline letter is useful when it names the gate: FICO, experience, property type, or leverage. Attach it to a pre-qual with the same contract and scope. Do not “improve” the ARV by $40,000 to clear their box and then send us the inflated number. We will re-comp it.
If the decline was property-type (condo, rural, fire damage), say so. Adjacent reading: hard money condos and townhomes and hard money denied.
Lima One fix and flip requirements FAQ
What are Lima One fix and flip requirements?
Lima One’s published fix-and-flip FAQ has required a 660 minimum credit score and at least one investment-property exit in the last 36 months on its standard program. Leverage and rate then follow experience tiers. Confirm current overlays on your file — grids change.
Can a first-time flipper use Lima One?
Their standard FAQ has said the prior exit can be a flip, sale, or refinance of an investment property you were on title for — not necessarily a completed flip brand. If you have zero investment exits, you may be outside that grid. Jaken Finance Group does not use a closed-deal minimum as a hard gate.
What credit score does Lima One require?
Published marketing has cited 660 FICO for fix-and-flip. Jaken Finance Group is credit-flexible with no published minimum on select programs. Low FICO still changes leverage and rate at any desk.
Does Jaken Finance Group match Lima One’s 95% LTC?
Lima One has advertised up to 95% LTC and 100% of rehab on eligible files. Jaken Finance Group publishes up to 100% LTC on qualified files with a 75% ARV cap. The cap, not the marketing LTC, usually wins.
Send the file you have
Pre-qualify or call (833) 264-7776. If you already have a Lima One decline letter, attach it — hard money denied is the rewrite path, not a second identical PDF.
Further reading: Lima One vs Jaken · Kiavi rates · requirements.
Rates, terms and conditions offered only to qualified borrowers and are subject to change at any time without notice. Lima One Capital is a separate company; requirements summarized from Lima One public FAQs and marketing and must be verified with Lima One. Jaken Finance Group only finances non-owner occupied investment properties.
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Jaken Finance Group, 2300 Barrington Road, Suite 400, Hoffman Estates, IL 60196