Real estate investors have long accepted origination fees as a fixed cost of doing business, paying a percentage of each loan amount at closing. homebldr, a technology-driven investment financing platform, has launched a product with no direct market equivalent: a financing subscription that eliminates homebldr origination fees entirely for 12 months. The implications for investors closing multiple deals per year are significant, and the math alone tends to change the conversation.
Origination fees are easy to absorb on a single deal. At 1.3% on a $417,000 loan, the fee is around $5,421. However, an investor closing six deals at that average loan size over 12 months, for a total loan volume of $2.5 million, would pay $32,526 in homebldr origination fees on a deal-by-deal basis. These are illustrative figures – actual fees vary depending on the deal, loan type, and capital source – but the math holds as a framework. Adam Eldibany, founder of homebldr, says the reaction when he walks investors through the annual total is almost always the same: the per-deal number felt fine, but the annual number does not.
Rather than paying origination on every transaction, subscribers pay a single upfront fee to homebldr and access zero homebldr origination across all eligible deals for the next 12 months, up to a loan volume cap determined by their tier. The homebldr financing subscription currently comes in three tiers. The Core tier is designed for investors closing two to three deals per year, with up to $1 million in loan volume. The Growth tier, which Eldibany describes as the best fit for most subscribers, covers investors closing a transaction roughly every couple of months, with an annual loan volume cap of $2.5 million. The Scale tier is for the most active investors, covering up to $5 million in annual loan volume.
Using the Growth tier example: an investor closing six deals totaling $2.5 million would pay $32,526 under the traditional model. Under the subscription, they pay $20,000. That is a 39% reduction, saving roughly $13,000 for the year. The break-even point arrives well before the full volume cap is reached; investors who use as little as 45 to 65 percent of their allotted loan volume are typically already ahead.
Beyond the savings, there is a structural difference that changes the practical math around cash management. Under a traditional model, origination fees are paid in cash at closing, and lenders typically require documentation of the cash's source if deposited within the last 60 days. The homebldr subscription fee is paid entirely outside of closing. It can be paid by credit card, with other debt, through gifted funds, or even through a buy now, pay later provider like Affirm or Klarna. No sourcing requirements and no restrictions on where the payment comes from keep capital in the investor's hands rather than at the closing table.
There is a common assumption that working directly with a lender produces better pricing than going through a broker, since the broker has to be compensated somewhere. Eldibany pushes back on this directly. "What many investors do not realize is that the terms being offered to them by direct lenders are retail terms," he says. "Experienced brokers can frequently access wholesale and preferential pricing from the same capital sources that is not available to investors going through the retail channel." Those wholesale terms are typically lower on fees and sometimes lower on rate. Many competitive capital sources operate exclusively through the wholesale channel and do not work directly with investors at all. For homebldr's subscription users, this plays out directly: subscribers are typically accessing wholesale and preferential terms from the capital network without any additional fees or yield spread added on.
homebldr is a technology-driven investment financing platform that provides real estate investors with access to a network of more than 80 capital partners, including lenders, family offices, and private lending groups. homebldr operates on a broker model and serves investors nationwide across fix and flip, new construction, and long-term rental financing.
Disclaimer: This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.
