The situation
The borrower is a Long Beach investor mid-project on a single-family property he planned to renovate and sell. The property was worth about $960,000 as-is, with a $2,200,000 after-repair value (ARV) — the appraisal is already in at that figure. But the file around it was heavy: an existing first lien of $528,700, a $490,000 tax lien that had to be cleared, a 525 credit score, and zero cash reserves. He also owned a second Long Beach property — a commercial building valued at $760,000 with a $430,000 first lien on it.
No bank, agency, or conventional Non-QM program touches that combination. Tax liens alone stop most files before they start; a 525 score and no reserves end the rest. The only thing underwritable here was the collateral itself.
The approved structure
Vision One structured a blanket (cross-collateral) first trust deed across both properties — one loan secured by the combined equity of the two. The terms below are approved and signed; loan documents are drawn and funding is scheduled for the week this breakdown is published:
New blanket loan: $1,496,000 (first trust deed, business purpose)
Property 1 — SFR, Long Beach: $960,000 as-is · $2,200,000 ARV · $200,000 construction holdback
Property 2 — commercial, Long Beach: $760,000 value (existing $430,000 first lien stays)
Combined collateral value: $2,960,000 · Combined loans: $1,926,000 · CLTV: 65.07%
- Cleared through escrow at closing: the old first lien ($528,700) and the entire $490,000 tax lien
- Construction money: $200,000 held back and released in draws as the renovation progresses — the flip gets finished with fund control
- Cash to the borrower: roughly $100,000 in net proceeds after the payoffs and holdback
- Term: 12 months, interest-only — with the first six months of interest prepaid at closing, so a zero-reserves borrower starts current and stays current while the project runs
- Credit score: 525 · Reserves: none
The exit is the project itself: finish the renovation to the $2.2M ARV, sell or refinance, and the blanket loan retires — with the tax lien already gone and the borrower's balance sheet reset.
Why equity had to carry it
Every traditional underwriting input failed this borrower — score, liens, reserves, documentation. What never failed was the math on the collateral: even combining both properties' loans, the lender sits at 65 cents on the dollar of value. That is what asset-based lending is for. The lender isn't betting on the borrower's past; it's secured by the properties' present value and the project's finished value.
Cross-collateralization was the key that made the numbers work. Neither property alone supported the loan plus a half-million-dollar tax lien payoff; pledged together, the combined equity did — at a combined LTV a hard-money lender could defend.
About this breakdown: a real Vision One Mortgage transaction, approved on the terms shown with loan documents drawn and funding scheduled. Figures are taken from the signed term sheet; the borrower is anonymized — no name, address, or account information is published. Approvals are subject to the lender's final conditions, and one file's outcome doesn't guarantee another's: guidelines vary by program and every property is underwritten on its own numbers.
Run your own numbers
If your file looks like this one — liens, bruised credit, no reserves, but real equity in real property — add up your collateral first: total property value against total loans. If the combined LTV works, the rest of the story can often be structured around it. Check your eligibility, start an application or upload documents, or call us at (949) 253-3480 (Vision One Mortgage, Inc. · NMLS #7861).
Educational content only — not loan advice. This breakdown describes one approved transaction on its documented terms. It is not a commitment to lend, and program guidelines vary and are subject to change. Equal Housing Opportunity.
