For Chicago investors running fix-and-flip and BRRRR deals, three national-scale lenders show up on most term sheets: Renovo Financial, Kiavi, and Lima One Capital. On paper they look interchangeable — all three quote short-term rates in the 9-12.5% band, 1-3 points, 12-24 month terms, and an 80% loan-to-ARV ceiling. But the differences that actually move a Chicago deal are in the details: how much rehab leverage each will extend, how fast they close in Cook County, and whether they can carry you from the hard money acquisition straight into the DSCR refinance. This is a working comparison of the three for Chicago-area deals; verify current rate sheets directly, because non-QM pricing moves weekly.
Start with the headline terms, because they frame everything else. Renovo Financial quotes 9.5-12.5% with 1-3 points, up to 90% loan-to-cost and an 85% LTV ceiling, on 6-24 month hard money terms, closing in a typical 7-14 days. Kiavi quotes 9.5-12% with 1-3 points, but stretches loan-to-cost to as high as 95% against an 80% LTV cap, on 12-24 month terms, also 7-14 days. Lima One Capital quotes the widest rate band at the bottom — 9.0-12% — with 1-3 points, up to 92% LTC and 80% LTV, but runs a slightly slower 10-21 day close. The spreads here are narrow enough that no single rate number should decide the deal.
The leverage difference is where real dollars separate them. Loan-to-cost governs how much of your acquisition-plus-rehab stack the lender funds, and the gap between 90% (Renovo), 92% (Lima One), and 95% (Kiavi) compounds fast on a Chicago 2-flat. Take a representative Belmont Cragin deal: $245,000 acquisition plus $80,000 rehab, a $325,000 total cost basis against a $385,000 ARV. At 90% LTC the lender funds roughly $292,500, leaving about $32,500 of investor cash in the deal. At 95% LTC that funded amount climbs to about $308,750 — cutting the cash-in to roughly $16,250. On a buyer running three to four deals a year, that swing is the difference between three concurrent projects and four.
But headline LTC is not the whole leverage story, because the 80% loan-to-ARV cap frequently binds before the LTC number does. In the example above, 80% of the $385,000 ARV is $308,000 — so Kiavi's 95% LTC is effectively throttled back to the ARV ceiling, and the practical funded amount across all three lenders converges near $300-308,000. The lesson for Chicago underwriting: on deals where you're buying at genuine distress with a healthy ARV spread, the LTC headline differences shrink because the ARV cap governs. On thinner-spread deals — where total cost is closer to 80% of ARV — the higher LTC lender genuinely funds more. Know which constraint binds your deal before you choose.
Renovo's real edge is local. It is the largest Chicago-based hard money lender, founded in Chicago in 2011, with deep penetration in the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee markets and long-standing relationships across the local broker and contractor community. For a Chicago deal, that local depth matters in concrete ways: an underwriter who already understands Cook County's class 2-99 residential assessment quirks, the reassessment timing that resets carry costs, and the neighborhood-by-neighborhood ARV reality of markets like Cicero, Berwyn, and Austin will push fewer surprises onto you at the draw stage. When a draw inspector knows what a finished Chicago bungalow rehab actually looks like, releases move faster.
Kiavi's edge is speed and technology. Founded in 2013 (formerly LendingHome), it is one of the largest hard money lenders in the country by volume and runs the most automated origination platform of the three — online application, fast underwriting, and aggressive terms for borrowers with a documented track record of funded deals. For an experienced Chicago operator who already knows their numbers and just wants the capital to land quickly with minimal back-and-forth, Kiavi's 95% LTC ceiling and tech-driven process are a genuine advantage. The trade-off is that the automated model rewards clean, conventional deals and experienced borrowers; first-time flippers or hairy deals get less hand-holding than a relationship lender provides.
Lima One's edge is the BRRRR exit. It runs the deepest full product suite of the three — fix-and-flip, BRRRR, rental DSCR, new construction, and multi-family under one roof — and is particularly strong on the rental refinance that completes a BRRRR cycle. That one-stop structure matters because the BRRRR strategy lives or dies on the refi: you acquire and rehab with hard money, stabilize with a tenant, then refinance into a 30-year DSCR loan to pay off the bridge and recapture your equity. Running both legs through Lima One means one underwriting relationship, one set of property knowledge carried forward, and no scramble to source a refinance lender at month five. For a dedicated BRRRR operator, that continuity can outweigh a few basis points of rate.
Consider how the three map onto a real BRRRR cycle. Acquisition and rehab phase: all three fund it, but Kiavi gives the highest LTC (most cash preserved), Renovo gives the most local underwriting confidence, and Lima One gives a slightly lower entry rate. Stabilization: lender-agnostic — this is your tenant placement period. Refinance: Lima One can take the same property straight into a DSCR loan at roughly 75% of stabilized value, while a Kiavi or Renovo borrower can also refinance in-house since both offer 30-year rental products. The practical question is which shop's rental rate sheet is sharpest at refi time, and that changes week to week.
Track record and borrower fit also sort these three. Renovo and Kiavi both reward experienced investors doing two or more deals a year, and Kiavi in particular gets more aggressive on leverage as your funded-deal history grows. Lima One's broad suite suits an investor who wants a single lending relationship spanning multiple strategies and property types, including multi-family up to and beyond the four-unit residential line. A newer Chicago investor on a first or second deal may actually find a smaller, relationship-based local lender — the type profiled elsewhere in this directory — more forgiving than any of these three on a deal with hair, even if the headline rate is a point higher.
Run the actual cost on a six-month Chicago flip to keep the rate differences in perspective. On a $292,000 funded balance held six months, the gap between a 9.5% and a 12% rate is roughly $3,650 in interest over the hold — real money, but small against a target flip margin of $35,000-$55,000 on a Chicago bungalow or 2-flat. One extra point at origination on that balance is about $2,920. The point is that for most Chicago flips, the financing cost spread among these three lenders is a rounding error next to a single mis-scoped rehab line — a missed tuckpointing or electrical-service item can erase a year of rate savings. Choose on leverage, speed, and exit fit, not on chasing the lowest quoted rate.
A few practical Chicago-specific notes. First, all three will underwrite forward property taxes, and a Chicago investor property loses the homeowner exemption the seller carried — model the post-classification, post-exemption tax burden into your carry, not the seller's current bill, or your DSCR at refi will come in thinner than projected. Second, none of these national lenders is the right tool for a same-week Cook County tax-deed or sheriff's-sale acquisition; those require a local private-money operator who closes in three to seven days. Third, on mixed-use or small commercial, expect all three to drop leverage to the 70-75% LTC range and treat it as a different product entirely.
So which one? For a pure Chicago flipper who values local underwriting and relationships, Renovo is the natural first call. For an experienced, numbers-driven operator who wants maximum leverage and the fastest automated close, Kiavi. For a committed BRRRR investor who wants one lender from acquisition through the DSCR refinance, Lima One. Most active Chicago operators end up with relationships at two of the three and route each deal to whichever fits its leverage and exit profile that month.
Bottom line: these three lenders are close enough on price that rate alone is the wrong tiebreaker. Decide based on which constraint binds your deal — LTC versus ARV cap — how much local Cook County knowledge you need at the draw stage, and whether the same shop can carry you into the rental exit. Pull current term sheets from all three on any live deal, confirm the leverage against your specific ARV, and verify rates the week you lock — non-QM pricing in this market does not sit still.
Educational content. Not legal, tax, or financial advice. Verify specific deal economics and tax mechanics with licensed professionals.