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Fort Collins Hard Money and Investor Loans

Fort Collins repealed its rental occupancy cap; we underwrite what that changed.

USA Mortgage funds investors across Fort Collins. Colorado State University drives this market's rental demand. Property tax bills vary sharply by taxing district here. Business-purpose loans only, terms set in underwriting.

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

The occupancy cap that shaped this market is gone

State law and a 2024 city council repeal ended the old three-unrelated-adult limit on Fort Collins rentals, so the by-the-bedroom student rental math near CSU is no longer capped that way. Building and fire code, not familial relationship, now sets the limit.

A metro district can push the tax line well past the base rate

Larimer County's metro districts collected almost as much property tax in 2024 as every city and town in the county combined, and a heavily levied district can roughly double the bill on an otherwise identical house. Pull the parcel's own tax area before underwriting, not a metro average.

A yield-constrained market with more than one way to make it work

Whole-house rent against Fort Collins city values pencils to a gross yield in the low single digits, so investors here lean on by-the-bedroom student leases, the lower-cost ring towns like Greeley and Loveland, or a licensed short-term rental. Values have been flat to slightly down, so a flip spread gets made at purchase.

Loan programs in Fort Collins

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

Fix and Flip in Fort CollinsRental / DSCR in Fort CollinsGround-Up Construction in Fort CollinsCRE Bridge in Fort CollinsTransactional Funding in Fort CollinsBank Statement / No-Doc in Fort CollinsConventional Investment in Fort CollinsPortfolio Loans in Fort CollinsCRE Permanent in Fort CollinsSBA Financing in Fort Collins

Fort Collins lending questions

Do you lend across the whole Fort Collins metro, not just the city?
Yes, across Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, and the rest of the Larimer and Weld County ring. We fund deals in Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Windsor, Timnath, Wellington, Berthoud, and Estes Park. Those eight cities span two counties, Larimer and Weld, with two separate assessors, and Fort Collins itself is largely built out inside its growth management area while towns like Timnath and Windsor absorb most of the new rooftops. USA Mortgage is headquartered in Bee Cave, Texas, and funds deals in most states with our own capital. Every loan is business-purpose only, on investment property, and terms are subject to underwriting. See how we lend across Colorado or talk to us.
Is Fort Collins still under the old U+2 occupancy limit for renters?
No. The cap on unrelated adults living together is gone, twice over. Colorado's HB24-1007, the HOME Act, added CRS 29-20-111 and bars any local government from limiting how many people may live together based on familial relationship, effective July 1, 2024. Fort Collins City Council then repealed its own occupancy limits on second reading July 2, 2024, through Ordinance No. 081, 2024 and Ordinance No. 082, 2024, and nothing replaced them. That does not mean there is no standard at all: the state law preserves limits based on building and fire code, and Fort Collins keeps adopting current building codes, so egress, room area, and septic or wastewater capacity still cap heads per house. For a 34,000-plus-student university town, that is the constraint an underwriter now uses in place of the old three-unrelated rule. See the DSCR program. Subject to underwriting.
Can I run a short-term rental in Fort Collins?
Only in certain zones, and the license does not follow the property when you sell it. Fort Collins splits short-term rentals into primary, where the owner lives on site at least 9 months a year, and non-primary, where the owner does not, and each type is only allowed in specific zone districts, so check the city's short-term rental zoning map before you underwrite one for that use. Licensing runs $150 to start and $100 a year to renew, on a July 1 to June 30 cycle regardless of issue date, plus city sales and lodging tax on the stay. A 2025 change removed non-primary short-term rentals from the Community Commercial, North College zone, the Old Town North area, though existing license holders there stay renewable. In every zone, a license expires on sale: the new owner has to apply for their own within 30 days of closing. See the fix and flip program. Subject to underwriting.
Why can two Fort Collins rentals a mile apart carry such different tax bills?
Because one of them likely sits inside a metro district, and that levy stacks on top of the county rate. A metro district is a special district that bonds out a subdivision's infrastructure and repays it with its own mill levy, layered on the county, city, and school levies everyone already pays. On a $500,000 Fort Collins rental at the certified 2024 city and county stack, the base bill runs about $3,228 a year; add a district levy like the ones common in Larimer's newer subdivisions and that same house can land near $5,103, and inside a heavily levied district it can approach double the base bill. Larimer County's metro districts collected nearly as much property tax in 2024 as every city and town in the county combined. Pull the parcel's own tax area from the county assessor before you size a loan; a listing sheet will not show the district levy. Talk to your CPA or tax advisor about your own position. See the DSCR program. Subject to underwriting.
What does it cost to bring water to a new lot in the Fort Collins area?
More than most out-of-state builders expect, and it depends on which of three water providers serves the parcel. A Fort Collins-area address can fall under City of Fort Collins Utilities, East Larimer County Water District, or Fort Collins-Loveland Water District, each on its own fee schedule. Fort Collins-Loveland Water District's 2026 single-family tap fee runs from roughly $55,685 on a small conservation-tap lot up to $113,285 on a lot over 11,000 square feet, driven by raw water cost and required acre-feet. City of Fort Collins Utilities priced its own water supply requirement at $63,800 per acre-foot in 2025. Confirm the serving district and its current fee schedule before you budget a ground-up build here; the gap between providers is a five- or six-figure line. See the ground-up construction program. Subject to underwriting.
What credit score do I need to borrow on a Fort Collins investment property?
It depends entirely on which program the deal fits, and on two of them there is no minimum at all. On our asset-based loans, fix and flip, bridge and ground up construction, we run credit but it carries far less weight than at a bank and there is no minimum score; weak credit is usually answered with lower leverage rather than a decline. DSCR and bank statement files start at 640, conventional investment starts at 580, and transactional funding has no credit check at all. There is no hard credit pull to start. Subject to underwriting.
How much do I need to bring to a Fort Collins deal?
Between nothing and about a quarter, depending on the program. A fix and flip loan funds up to 90% of the purchase and up to 100% of the rehab, so on a $450,000 Fort Collins purchase that is up to $405,000 from us and $45,000 from you (450,000 x 90% = 405,000). A DSCR rental loan runs up to 80% LTV, so 20% down on the same math. A construction loan runs up to 85% of cost and up to 70% LTV, and on a Fort Collins build the water tap fee belongs in that cost number before you set your equity. Transactional funding covers up to 100% of the A-to-B purchase. Subject to underwriting.
What is the smallest loan you will write in Fort Collins?
$100,000 on most of the residential programs. Fix and flip runs $100,000 to $5 million, DSCR and bank statement run $100,000 to $3 million, construction goes up to $5 million and commercial bridge up to $10 million. Two sit higher: a portfolio loan starts at $500,000 across five or more properties, and an SBA loan starts at $350,000. A lower-basis purchase in Greeley or Loveland still clears the residential floor comfortably. 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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