Hard Money Lender San Francisco
Construction Loans
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Construction Loans in San Francisco, CA

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About Construction Loans

Building in San Francisco is a specialized discipline. The city's topography — bedrock ridges in Pacific Heights and Twin Peaks, bay-fill lowlands in the Marina and parts of the Mission, serpentine-rock slopes in the Western Addition — creates site-specific structural requirements that standard construction cost models do not capture. SF Planning's permit review cycles, which run three to eighteen months on projects that trigger discretionary review, make conventional construction lender draw structures — which assume predictable timelines — functionally useless. The SF Department of Building Inspection's inspection sequencing, which differs from CalGreen baseline requirements in meaningful ways, adds complexity that out-of-state lenders do not understand. Hard Money Lender San Francisco provides construction loans structured around how San Francisco construction actually works, not how it works everywhere else. We lend from $500,000 to $15 million for residential and commercial construction with terms from twelve to thirty-six months and built-in extension options for projects encountering Planning delays. Our loan-to-cost ratios reach 75–80% of total project cost including land, hard costs, soft costs, and contingency. Our in-house draw administration team understands SF DBI inspection sequences, permit milestone dependencies, and the standard of documentation required before funds are released. The construction market we serve includes tech-wealth investors building custom homes in Forest Hill, St. Francis Wood, and Sea Cliff; developers executing ADU addition programs across the Outer Sunset and Inner Richmond; commercial developers repositioning Bayview industrial buildings; and small builders constructing infill homes on entitled lots throughout the city's residential fabric. We understand each of these project types and structure loans that match their specific timelines and risk profiles.

Hard Money Lender San Francisco provides construction loans for Bay Area sponsors who need quick, decisive execution without conventional bank delay.

We structure each loan around collateral profile, timeline, and exit strategy to support your business plan from acquisition through disposition or refinance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you handle construction loan extensions when SF Planning delays my permits?

We build two six-month extension options into every SF construction loan, disclosed and priced at origination. If a Section 311 neighbor notification or Discretionary Review hearing delays your building permit beyond the initial loan term, you submit an extension request with documentation of the permit status — the Planning case number, the hearing date if set, or the assigned planner's written timeline estimate. We approve the extension within five business days. Extensions are priced at a flat fee disclosed in your original term sheet; we do not renegotiate rate or add points at extension.

Do you fund ADU construction under SB-9 on existing San Francisco properties?

Yes, ADU and JADU construction is one of our most active construction categories. We offer ADU construction loans from $150,000 to $600,000 with streamlined documentation — we need the permitted plans or pre-application confirmation from SF DBI, a contractor bid with scope breakdown, and the borrower's property ownership documentation. We fund in four to five draw milestones aligned with DBI inspection checkpoints: foundation and framing, rough mechanical and electrical, insulation and drywall, and finishes plus final. For detached ADU construction on rear lots, we require a geotechnical review of the lot conditions before closing.

What contingency reserve do you require for San Francisco construction projects?

We require 15% of total hard construction cost as a funded contingency reserve, embedded in the initial loan draw structure. This contingency is not accessible until the project is demonstrably in excess of the base budget — it is not a soft reserve. Bay Area construction projects encounter hidden site conditions, material substitutions, and inspection-driven scope changes at higher rates than construction in less complex markets. The 15% contingency is our hard-learned minimum; experienced SF builders routinely carry 20–25% when managing their own projects.

Can I get a construction loan for a custom home in Forest Hill or St. Francis Wood?

Yes. Premium residential neighborhoods in the western hills are a specialty of our construction program. Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood lots in the $1.2M–$2M range support construction loans of $2M–$4M for custom homes achieving $5M–$8M completed values in the current market. We require the architect of record's stamped plans (or at minimum design development drawings at close, with final permitted plans as a condition of first draw), a licensed general contractor's guaranteed maximum price contract, and a geotechnical report appropriate to the site's hillside or fill conditions. We close in two to three weeks from complete documentation.

How do you verify construction progress for draw disbursements?

For construction loans up to $3 million, draw verification is conducted by our in-house team or a contracted San Francisco-based inspector on our approved list. For projects above $3 million, we require an independent certified construction monitor who provides written progress reports at each draw milestone. Draws are released within two to three business days of verified inspection. We require completed and unconditional lien waivers from the general contractor and all subcontractors receiving payment from the prior draw before releasing subsequent draws — this protects the borrower and preserves lien priority on the collateral.

Available Throughout the Bay Area

San FranciscoOaklandBerkeleyDaly CityAlamedaSan MateoRedwood CityHaywardSan LeandroFremontMountain ViewSunnyvale
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