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Bellingham Hard Money and Investor Loans

We read the tax code area before we read the pro forma.

USA Mortgage funds investors across Whatcom County. Rents run behind price here, unlike a cash-flow market. Registration and inspection rules shape a rental hold here. Business-purpose loans only, terms set in underwriting.

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You hear the decision from the people who underwrote your deal.

This is a high-basis market, not a cash-flow market

Bellingham is the second most expensive metropolitan statistical area in Washington after Seattle, at a $643,770 mid-tier single-family value, while single-family rent runs about $2,823 a month, a gross yield near 5.3% before expenses. DSCR deals here clear on low vacancy, low taxes, and durable institutional employment, not on rent-to-price.

Registration and inspection are real line items, not a rumor

Bellingham charges $20 per unit per year to register a rental, $16 per unit above 20 units, plus a safety inspection every 3 to 3.5 years capped at four units sampled per three years on a property under 21 units. On a fourplex that runs about $80 a year plus at most $400 every three years, and it belongs in the operating model.

The tenant base is institutional, so it moves slowly in both directions

Six of the county's top nine employers are a university, a hospital, a tribe, a school district, a city, and a county, and total nonfarm employment has held flat at 96,300 to 96,700 since 2023. That composition means low volatility and low wage growth, which cuts against both a downside surprise and a rent spike.

Loan programs in Bellingham

Acquisition through exit, all funded or arranged by one lender.

Fix and Flip in BellinghamRental / DSCR in BellinghamGround-Up Construction in BellinghamCRE Bridge in BellinghamTransactional Funding in BellinghamBank Statement / No-Doc in BellinghamConventional Investment in BellinghamPortfolio Loans in BellinghamCRE Permanent in BellinghamSBA Financing in Bellingham

Bellingham lending questions

Do you lend across the whole Bellingham metro, not just the city?
Yes, across Whatcom County. We fund deals in Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, Birch Bay, Everson, Nooksack, and Sumas. We're headquartered in Bee Cave, Texas, and every loan is business-purpose only, on investment property, with terms subject to underwriting. See how we lend across Washington or talk to us.
Why does the property tax bill change so much street to street in Whatcom County?
Because the tax code area, not the county average, sets the rate. The 2026 consolidated rate runs from 6.1707621968 per $1,000 in the unincorporated Birch Bay area to 10.0087385437 per $1,000 in parts of unincorporated Bellingham School District territory, a 62% spread on the same assessed value. Among the incorporated cities the spread is 37%: Blaine at 6.8047689201, Bellingham at 8.2981988526, Sumas at 9.3035821608. Add the unincorporated Birch Bay band at 6.1707621968 and the eight places we serve span 50%. Pull the parcel's tax code area before you run the pro forma. Talk to your CPA about your specific parcel. See the DSCR program. Subject to underwriting.
Does Bellingham require a rental to be registered and inspected?
Yes, almost every residential rental in the city. Bellingham Municipal Code chapter 6.15 charges $20 per unit per year for a property with 1 to 20 units, $16 per unit for 21 or more, set per property rather than per portfolio. A safety inspection runs on a roughly 3 to 3.5 year cycle, and the sampling cap keeps it manageable: no more than four units inspected every three years on a property under 21 units. Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, Everson, Nooksack, Sumas, and unincorporated Whatcom County had no equivalent program located in our research. See the DSCR program. Subject to underwriting.
Can I buy a Bellingham house and run it as a short-term rental?
Not unless it's your primary residence, in a residential zone. A non-primary-residence short-term rental is not allowed in Bellingham's residential zoning districts. The unit must serve as the primary residence of the owner or a long-term tenant on at least a 270-day lease for at least 270 days a year, and even then the whole unit tops out at 95 rented nights a year. Commercial and urban village zones allow a non-primary-residence short-term rental with no day cap. A constitutional challenge to the residency rule was in Whatcom Superior Court as of early April 2026, with the outcome not yet known. See the fix and flip program. Subject to underwriting.
How should I think about flood exposure in Whatcom County?
As a low-frequency, high-severity risk, not a mild recurring cost. FEMA declared a major disaster for Whatcom County on 2026-04-07 for a December 2025 storm; the National Flood Insurance Program paid 293 building claims totaling nearly $19.9 million for that loss year, close to the 329 claims and $20.3 million paid after the November 2021 Nooksack floods. Fourteen of the last sixteen years produced almost no claims, and two produced $40 million between them. The Nooksack corridor towns, Everson, Nooksack, Sumas, and Ferndale, carry that exposure most directly; get the flood determination and elevation certificate before funding there. See the fix and flip program. Subject to underwriting.
What credit score do I need to borrow in Bellingham?
It depends on the program, and on several of them there is no minimum at all. Fix and flip, bridge and construction are asset-based: we run credit, but it carries far less weight than at a bank, and a weaker file is usually offset with lower leverage rather than a decline. DSCR and bank statement start at 640, conventional investment starts at 580, and transactional funding has no credit check at all. No hard pull to start. Subject to underwriting.
How much do I need to put down on a Bellingham investment property?
Between 10% and 30%, depending on the program. Fix and flip funds up to 90% of purchase plus up to 100% of rehab, so on a $650,000 Bellingham purchase that is $585,000 from us and $65,000 from you (650,000 x 90% = 585,000). DSCR and conventional run up to 80% LTV, commercial bridge up to 75%, and ground-up construction up to 70% of value or 85% of cost. Bellingham's $643,770 mid-tier value is the second highest of any Washington metropolitan statistical area after Seattle, so the same percentage is a bigger check here. Subject to underwriting.
Is there a minimum loan size in Bellingham?
$100,000 on most of our residential programs. Fix and flip, DSCR and bank statement all start at $100,000. Portfolio loans start at $500,000 and need five or more properties, and SBA starts at $350,000. Whatcom County values sit above those floors almost everywhere, from a $324,406 mid-tier value in Deming to $672,756 in Bellingham, so the floor rarely decides a deal here. Subject to underwriting.
Serving Bellingham and nearby
BellinghamFerndaleLyndenBlaineBirch BayEversonNooksackSumas
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About the local figures on this page

Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.

Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-22.

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