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Denver Hard Money and Investor Loans

Denver only licenses short-term rentals inside a host's own primary residence.

USA Mortgage funds investors across metro Denver. Front Range hail insurance carries its own deductible math. Newer subdivisions can carry mill levies far above the city's. Business-purpose loans only, terms set in underwriting.

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The short-term rental map resets at every city line

Denver, Aurora, and Lakewood license a short-term rental only in the operator's own primary residence. Arvada allows a qualifying owner up to three investor short-term rentals citywide, each capped at 240 days a year, and unincorporated Jefferson County caps an investor at one, with a 750-foot buffer between investor properties.

Tax district, not county, decides the bill

Denver's own general mill levy ran 79.202 mills for tax year 2024. Douglas County alone has 631 metropolitan districts, with total levies ranging from 69.821 to 279.845 mills, so two identical houses a few streets apart can carry very different tax bills. Pull the parcel's tax district before underwriting, not a county average.

A buyer-negotiating market that stays firm on detached rent

Active listings have roughly tripled off their 2021 trough and median days on market has climbed sharply, with list prices down from their 2023 peak. Detached single-family rent still rose year over year even as the blended market rent index fell, so the underwriting case rests on the rent a house actually commands, not the metro average.

Loan programs in Denver

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

Fix and Flip in DenverRental / DSCR in DenverGround-Up Construction in DenverCRE Bridge in DenverTransactional Funding in DenverBank Statement / No-Doc in DenverConventional Investment in DenverPortfolio Loans in DenverCRE Permanent in DenverSBA Financing in Denver

Denver lending questions

Do you lend across the whole Denver metro, not just the city?
Yes, across the Denver metro. We fund deals in Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, Westminster, Thornton, Commerce City, and Parker, spanning Denver, Arapahoe, Adams, Jefferson, Douglas, and Broomfield counties. 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 Colorado or talk to us.
Can I buy a Denver-area house and run it as a short-term rental?
Only if it is your primary residence in Denver, Aurora, or Lakewood; a few suburbs allow more. Denver, Aurora, and Lakewood all license short-term rentals only in the operator's primary residence, not a property held purely as an investment. Arvada is the outlier: one qualifying owner can hold permits on up to three short-term rental properties citywide, each capped at 240 days of occupancy a year. Unincorporated Jefferson County limits an investor to one licensed short-term rental, with a 750-foot buffer between investor properties. The rules run by jurisdiction, so confirm the specific city or county before you underwrite a short-term rental exit. See the DSCR program. Subject to underwriting.
Why can property taxes vary so much across the Denver metro?
Because the tax district matters more than the county. Denver's total general mill levy is 79.202 mills, citywide. In Douglas County, 631 separate metropolitan districts carry total levies from 69.821 to 279.845 mills, and some newer subdivisions stack six overlapping districts on one parcel. On an identical $600,000 property, arithmetic on the published mill rates puts a Denver tax bill around $3,221 against roughly $10,713 in the highest Douglas County district, a gap the county rate alone would not show you. Colorado law requires the seller of a home inside a metropolitan district formed since 2000 to disclose the district's own website, so ask for it before you close. Talk to your CPA about your specific parcel. See the DSCR program. Subject to underwriting.
How should I think about insurance on a Denver-area flip or rental?
Plan for hail, not wildfire, and expect a percentage deductible. A February 2026 Colorado Division of Insurance analysis attributes 26% to 54% of a Front Range homeowners premium to hail, versus roughly 1% for wildfire in Denver itself. Front Range policies commonly carry a separate wind and hail deductible of 1% to 2% of the dwelling coverage limit, higher on older roofs, rather than a flat dollar amount. The 2017 Denver metro hailstorm remains Colorado's costliest insured catastrophe at roughly $2.3 billion. Require replacement cost coverage, not actual cash value, and put the roof's age in the file before you size the loan. See the fix and flip program. Subject to underwriting.
Does Denver require a license for a long-term rental property?
Yes. Every residential rental in Denver needs a city license. The requirement phased in with a 2024-01-01 deadline for single-unit properties, runs for a four-year term, costs $50 to apply, and requires a third-party inspection at the owner's expense. Enforcement has gotten sharper: the maximum fine rose from $999 to $5,000 per violation in late 2025, and the city issued its first $5,000 fine on 2026-01-14. Ask for the license number and inspection date on any Denver rental you are underwriting; an unlicensed property is a live liability from day one. See the DSCR program. Subject to underwriting.
What credit score do I need to borrow on a Denver investment property?
It depends on the program, and on our asset-based loans there is no minimum at all. Fix and flip, commercial bridge and ground-up construction carry no minimum score. We run credit, but it carries far less weight than at a bank, and weaker credit is usually handled 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 credit pull to start. Subject to underwriting.
How much do I need to put down on a Denver investment property?
It runs from nothing to about 25%, depending on the program. A fix and flip goes up to 90% of purchase and up to 100% of rehab, so on a $600,000 Denver purchase that is $540,000 from us and $60,000 from you (600,000 x 90% = 540,000). A DSCR rental goes up to 80% LTV, a commercial bridge up to 75% LTV, and transactional funding covers up to 100% of the A-to-B purchase. Subject to underwriting.
What is the smallest loan you will write in the Denver metro?
$100K on our residential investor programs. Fix and flip, DSCR and bank statement all start there. Portfolio loans start at $500K and need five or more properties, and SBA starts at $350K. If your Denver deal comes in under the floor, talk to us and we will point you at the right structure. Subject to underwriting.
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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 2026-08-15.

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