Fix and Flip Loans in Washington DC, Alexandria, and Arlington: What’s Actually Different Here
Say a rowhome in Petworth lists for $620,000. It needs a new kitchen, one bathroom redone, electrical brought to code, and a roof — call it $130,000 in rehab. The comps say $860,000 once the work is done. On paper that’s a clean deal. In Washington DC and Northern Virginia, three things change the math before you ever get to loan terms: how DC taxes a property that sits open during a stalled renovation, how Alexandria’s historic district reviews exterior work, and how Arlington’s zoning changes affect what you can build on a teardown lot.
Easy Lending USA is a referral service, not a lender. We match business-purpose loan requests — secured by non-owner-occupied investment property and made to a business entity — with the funding partner that fits the deal. In Virginia, loans are originated under the license of our licensed lending partner; Easy Lending USA refers the deal and does not hold a Virginia lending license itself.
The program, in brief
Fix-and-flip funding in this market runs on the same indicative structure we quote everywhere:
- Up to 90% loan-to-cost for light rehab from an experienced investor (85% with some experience, 80% for a first deal)
- Capped at 75% of after-repair value, whichever number is lower
- Rehab funds released in draws as work is completed and inspected
- 620 minimum FICO for repeat investors, 650 for a first deal
- Loan sizes from $115,000 to $8 million
- Terms of 12 to 18 months
- Closings in as few as 7 to 15 days once the file is complete
These are indicative figures from current program sheets, not a committed offer — actual terms depend on the deal, the entity, and underwriting.
What changes inside DC
Washington DC classifies property for tax purposes by use, and a property that sits vacant — including one mid-renovation with no active permit on file — can be reclassified out of the standard residential rate into the Class 3 “vacant” rate, and into Class 4 “blighted” if it stays vacant longer. Both brackets sit well above the roughly $0.85 per $100 of assessed value an occupied residential property pays; current Class 3 and Class 4 rates run several multiples of that, and the city re-certifies the exemption rather than granting it once. If your renovation stalls — a permit delay at the Department of Buildings, a contractor who disappears for two months — the property can tip into vacant classification before you sell, a holding cost a flip budget in a lower-tax jurisdiction doesn’t carry. File the Certificate of Exemption when you pull the permit and keep documented, continuous work on record; a gap is what triggers the reclass, not the renovation itself.
What changes in Alexandria and Arlington
Alexandria is an independent city, not part of any county — your permit and inspection relationship is directly with the city, and in Old Town, exterior work on most properties also needs Board of Architectural Review approval before a building permit issues. BAR adds a hearing cycle most investors don’t budget for: plan on four to eight weeks beyond a standard permit timeline if the property sits inside the historic district, longer if BAR asks for revisions. Arlington doesn’t carry that overlay countywide, but its 2023 zoning changes opened missing-middle options — duplexes and small multi-unit builds — on lots that were single-family-only before, which changes the ARV math on a teardown or ground-up deal in ways a generic Virginia page won’t mention. Both cities sit in a state that charges its own grantor’s and recordation taxes on the deed of trust at closing — a real closing-statement line item that doesn’t exist the same way on a Maryland or DC closing.
The arithmetic: why ARV caps the loan here, not LTC
Back to the Petworth example: $620,000 purchase plus $130,000 rehab is $750,000 in total cost. At 90% LTC for an experienced investor on a light rehab, the loan-to-cost math alone would support $675,000. But the ARV cap is 75% of $860,000 — $645,000. The lower of the two numbers wins, so the loan is $645,000, not $675,000, and the investor has to bring the $105,000 difference plus closing costs and any interest reserve. This shows up specifically in DC-metro rowhome flips because comps in built-out historic neighborhoods run tighter than in newer suburban markets — the ARV ceiling binds before the LTC ceiling does, which is the opposite of what a first-time investor usually expects walking in.
| Factor | Washington DC | Alexandria / Arlington, VA |
|---|---|---|
| Governing structure | Single city-state jurisdiction | Independent city (Alexandria) or county (Arlington) |
| Vacant-property risk | Class 3/4 tax reclass if renovation stalls | No equivalent vacant-property tax class |
| Historic review | Varies by ward; several wards have historic review boards | Old Town Alexandria BAR review on exterior work |
| Loan licensing | Referral under program terms | Originated under our licensed lending partner’s Virginia license |
When this is the wrong call
If the property sits inside Old Town’s historic district and your term is 12 months, don’t assume you have 12 months of working time — BAR review can eat four to eight weeks before a permit even issues, and that’s before the renovation starts. If you’re buying in DC and your contractor’s schedule has real gaps built in, file the vacant-property exemption paperwork before you need it, not after an inspector flags the property. And if the deal only works at the full 90% LTC number, run the ARV cap first in this market — a tight comp set in a historic DC or Old Town block will often cap you below what the LTC math implies, and a deal that only works at the higher number isn’t a deal here.
Moving on a DC-metro deal
Current terms for fix-and-flip funding are on the fix-and-flip program page and the rates page — both indicative, both worth checking before you run your own numbers. If you want to see what a specific DC, Alexandria, or Arlington deal looks like, submit it and we’ll tell you where it lands. General program questions go on the FAQ.