Ground-Up Construction Loans

Our ground-up construction loan product is designed to help real estate investors and builders bring their projects to life with speed and flexibility. Whether you’re building a single-family home or a multi-unit project, Merchants supports your vision from foundation to completion—so you can break ground with confidence.

For qualified investors, we can fund up to 85% of project costs. These loans are ideal for speculative projects, allowing developers to secure funding without requiring pre-sale contracts, giving them the flexibility to build and sell on their terms.

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Loan Amount

Up to $5,000,000

LTC/LTV

Up to 85%/65%

Rates

Starting at 10%*

Monthly payments are interest-only, with interest charged solely on the construction fund as it is disbursed through our draw process.

Origination Fee

Starting at 1%

Term Length

Up to 24 months

Credit Qualification

620+ (Some exceptions considered)

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Ground-Up Scenarios

Our Ground-Up Construction Loan Program offers financing for a wide range of new construction projects. Below are some examples of scenarios where we can provide support:

Ground-up construction loans for investment properties where the lot is already owned.

Ground-up construction loans for investment properties where the lot is already owned.

When a Lot is owned outright with no mortgage, Merchants can finance 100% of the hard construction costs, as well as some soft costs like plans, architect fees, and permits.

Quick acquisition of the lot, with the opportunity to refinance into a construction loan once plans are completed.

Quick acquisition of the lot, with the opportunity to refinance into a construction loan once plans are completed.

If you are purchasing a Lot with a house to be demolished and need to close quickly, but do not have your construction plans and budget ready, Merchants can provide interim financing for the initial acquisition. In this scenario, borrowers would need to put down 20% to 25% of the lot acquisition price. Once you have your plans and are close to obtaining permits, we will refinance the acquisition loan into a construction loan covering up to 85% of the construction costs.

Refinance existing property loan into a ground-up construction loan.

Refinance existing property loan into a ground-up construction loan.

If you have already purchased the lot and currently have a loan against it, Merchants can refinance the lot loan into a ground-up construction loan.**

**Please note, applicable loan-to-cost and loan-to-value ratios will be applied.

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