Skip to main content
Apply now
Direct private lending in most states
Call us anytime at 512-617-9400
Olympia Hard Money and Investor Loans
Rental rules change at the city line; the school district sets the tax.
USA Mortgage funds investors across the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater market. Olympia and Lacey enforce very different landlord rules. State government employment gives this economy unusual stability. We lend business-purpose only, with terms set in underwriting.
You hear the decision from the people who underwrote your deal.
A payroll that doesn't move with the cycle
Government accounted for 32.8% of all nonfarm jobs in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro in July 2026, more than twice the national share, and state employment has been flat to slightly down since 2024. That base has kept home values and rents unusually stable in both directions.
Rental rules that change at the city line
Olympia registers, licenses, and inspects every rental unit; Lacey only registers buildings of five or more units. Know which code applies to your property before you underwrite a hold.
A tax bill set by more than the address
Thurston County's tax code areas price the same market nearly two to one, from about $5.67 to $10.87 per $1,000 of assessed value depending on the school and fire district. Ask for the tax code area, not just the city.
Loan programs in Olympia
Acquisition through exit, all funded or arranged by one lender.
Olympia lending questions
How different are the rental rules between Olympia and Lacey?
Very different, even though the cities touch. Olympia requires every rental unit registered with the city ($35 per unit per year), a business license conditioned on a certificate of compliance, and an inspection at least once every five years. Lacey requires registration only for properties with five or more units in the same complex, at $5 per unit per year capped at $500 per complex. A four-plex bought in Lacey with no registration duty at all sits a few minutes from the full Olympia regime. Olympia's rent-increase notice runs 120 days above 5% and 180 days at 10% or more, and a cumulative increase of 7% or more in twelve months entitles the tenant to relocation assistance of two and a half months' rent, paid within 31 days of a written request. Talk to your attorney about how these rules apply to your property. See the DSCR program. See how we lend across Washington for the state rules that apply to every deal here.
Why does my property tax bill depend on more than which city I buy in?
Because the school district inside your tax code area moves the bill as much as the city does. Thurston County's Assessor publishes a consolidated total for every tax code area, and the countywide range runs from about $5.67 to $10.87 per $1,000 of assessed value depending on the exact combination of city, school district, and fire district. The City of Yelm inside Yelm School District 2 totals $7.458 per $1,000 against Olympia's $10.463, roughly 29% less on the same assessed value, but the identical Yelm city parcel sitting inside Rainier School District 307 totals $10.432. The county revalues every property every year, so a rehab that lifts market value shows up in the next cycle. Ask for the tax code area, not just the city, before you underwrite the carry. See the fix and flip program.
What is the state of the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater market right now?
Slow and steady, in both price and pace. Seven of the metro's eight named cities and towns sat within about $46,000 of each other on home value as of mid-2026, with only Bucoda below that band, and the metro overall was essentially flat year over year, in a band of -0.2% to +3.1%. Days on market have lengthened every year since 2021, from 25 days to 45, and active listings have nearly quadrupled over the same stretch, from 259 to 996. That is a market loosening steadily rather than one that broke. No flip-rate or flip-margin statistic exists for this metro from a reliable source, so we underwrite the exit off days-on-market and price-cut data rather than a published flip return. See the fix and flip program.
Why does a direct, business-purpose lender make sense in this market?
Because this market runs on a payroll that does not swing with the housing cycle. Government employment is 32.8% of all nonfarm jobs in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater metro as of July 2026, more than twice the national share, with the state itself accounting for 29,900 of the metro's 43,800 government jobs. That base has kept the metro's home values and rents unusually flat in both directions rather than a boom-and-bust story. State employment has also gone flat since 2024 after rising steadily from 2018, so a long hold here is underwriting a state budget cycle more than a growth curve. We fund with our own capital and evaluate every deal against the market it sits in. Business-purpose loans only; every structure is subject to underwriting. Apply now.
What should I know about earthquake and flood exposure in this metro?
Two documented, distinct perils, and Olympia has direct history with both. The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, a magnitude 6.8 event with its hypocenter near Anderson Island, was worst felt in Olympia and damaged the State Capitol building; the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network puts the odds of another deep intraplate quake larger than magnitude 6.0 at 84% over the next 50 years. Separately, the City of Olympia documents that its own downtown shoreline floods at street level from tidal, river, and storm causes, sometimes 18 inches or more above street level, and advises checking whether a building has built-in flood mitigation, which it assumes only for buildings constructed after 1996. In Washington, earthquake coverage is not part of a standard homeowners or renters policy and is added on or bought separately. Talk to your insurance agent about coverage for your specific address. See the bridge loan program.
What credit score do I need for an investor loan in Olympia?
It depends entirely on which program you are in. On our asset-based loans, fix and flip, bridge, and ground-up construction, there is no minimum score. We run credit, but it carries far less weight than at a bank, and weaker credit 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 involves no credit check at all. There is no hard credit pull to start a conversation about an Olympia deal. Subject to underwriting. Apply now.
How much do I need to put down on an Olympia investment property?
Between about 10% and 20%, depending on the program. Fix and flip funds up to 90% of the purchase price and up to 100% of the rehab budget, capped to ARV, so on Olympia's $536,583 median value that is roughly $482,925 from us and $53,658 from you (536,583 x 90% = 482,925). DSCR and conventional investment run up to 80% LTV, and bank statement loans start at 20% down, which on the same value is about $107,317. Commercial bridge runs up to 75% LTV and ground-up construction up to 70% LTV or 85% of cost. Closing costs and Washington's real estate excise tax sit on top of all of it. Subject to underwriting.
What is the smallest loan you will write in the Olympia metro?
$100,000 on most residential programs. Fix and flip, DSCR, and bank statement loans all start at $100,000, portfolio blanket loans start at $500,000 across five or more properties, and SBA runs from $350,000. Because seven of this metro's eight cities sit within about $46,000 of each other on value, from roughly $490,346 in Yelm to $536,583 in Olympia, nearly any single-property deal here clears the residential floor at normal leverage. If a deal falls under the minimum we will say so on the first call rather than after an application. Subject to underwriting.
Serving Olympia and nearby
OlympiaLaceyTumwaterYelmTeninoRainierRochesterBucoda
Other markets
TexasCaliforniaWashingtonNorth CarolinaColoradoOklahomaFloridaGeorgiaTennesseeAustinDallasHoustonSan AntonioFort WorthTampaAtlantaNashvilleKilleenCollege StationDentonLubbockMcAllenMidlandOrlandoFort MyersCorpus ChristiEl PasoWacoTylerJacksonvilleMiamiFort LauderdaleWest Palm BeachOklahoma CityTulsaCharlotteGreensboroRaleighSarasotaColorado SpringsDenverFort CollinsSeattleTacomaSpokaneVancouverLos AngelesInland EmpireSan DiegoSacramentoCentral ValleyBakersfieldWashington DCEverettBellinghamTri-CitiesYakimaOrange CountyStocktonSan FranciscoOaklandNew BraunfelsGalvestonSan JoseSan Luis ObispoOxnardSanta RosaSan MarcosLaredoBoulderPuebloGrand JunctionNormanStillwaterLawtonEdmondBroken ArrowEnidMuskogeeSan BernardinoSan MateoSanta BarbaraFriscoWaxahachieForneyRockwallShermanSt. LouisSt. CharlesSpringfieldColumbiaMissouriKansas CityLibertyArnoldJoplinSee the map
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.
Funding Olympia deals fast.
Get real terms, usually same day. No obligation, no hard credit pull to start.