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Hard Money Lending in Florida, Texas & Colorado | Jason Milliken

By September 11, 2025Real Estate Pros Show


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Show Summary

In this episode of the Investor Fuel Podcast, host Leo Wehdeking speaks with Jason Milliken, a seasoned asset-based lender in the real estate industry. They discuss Jason’s approach to lending, the challenges faced in the current market, and the importance of quick decision-making in financing solutions. Jason shares insightful stories about helping clients navigate difficult situations and emphasizes the significance of referrals in building a successful business. The conversation concludes with Jason’s future goals and how he plans to scale his business while maintaining strong relationships with clients and investors.

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    Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

    Jason Milliken (00:00)
    Had a guy a month ago, I closed a loan for…

    Three and a half million, he had a house that he bought for seven million, it was worth 12 million completed, did a full renovation on it, it was halfway through, needed three and a half million, I lent him the money. I looked at the house on a Wednesday, I closed on a Monday. That simple. We’re very, very quick, we close typically, I the quickest I’ve ever closed was a deal in Miami last year.

    Leo Wehdeking (00:16)
    well.

    Jason Milliken (00:26)
    I looked at the house on Thursday. Luckily the title was already almost completed. Closed on Friday. It was going to auction on a Monday. So I saved the guy from losing his house.

    Leo Wehdeking (00:33)
    Wow.

    Hey everyone, welcome to Investor Fuel Podcast. I’m your host, Leo Wehdeking and today I am joined by someone I’ve been looking forward to chatting with, Jason, who’s been making serious moves in the real estate industry. Jason, glad to have you here,

    Jason Milliken (02:25)
    Nice to be here, thank you very much.

    Leo Wehdeking (02:26)
    Hey Jason, I think our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’ve been approaching ⁓ your lending ⁓ and private capital business. ⁓ Is there something that you can tell ⁓ people that are not familiar with your world? ⁓ What’s your main focus these days?

    Jason Milliken (02:47)
    Yeah, sure. So we’re a true asset based lender in South Florida. We cover a few states, Texas and Colorado, which are pretty much the hottest states in the United States right now. Born and raised in Florida. So I understand Florida very well, which is where we fund, I would say 99 % of our loans are right here in South Florida. We’re just a true asset based company where, you know, anyone that’s looking to purchase an investment property or do construction loans or looking for a short-term bridge loan.

    That’s something we could help with. We have very competitive rates. The rates are around 12%. Terms are typically six to 12 months, six months guaranteed interest, origination fees 2%. So we’re pretty simple. Again, we’re a true asset based lender, so we don’t require a lot of documentation.

    Leo Wehdeking (03:36)
    Alright, alright, love it, love it man. And let me ask you this, in what markets do you operate in?

    Jason Milliken (03:42)
    just the real estate market.

    Leo Wehdeking (03:43)
    and it’s ⁓ only in one state or nationwide.

    Jason Milliken (03:48)
    Colorado and Texas, which are typically, I’d say they’re the hottest states right now. Yeah, know, during COVID there, they were pretty much the hottest and there still are, you don’t live in California, but just typically Texas, Colorado, Florida, some Georgia, but really.

    Leo Wehdeking (03:50)
    Colorado and Texas Colorado and time For sure for sure

    All right.

    Alright, that’s good. I’m from Florida. I live in Florida, well…

    Jason Milliken (04:09)
    All right.

    Leo Wehdeking (04:12)
    Yeah, I’ve been living in Florida.

    I’ve been living in Florida for over nine years right now. Yeah, but I was born and raised in Colombia. yeah, so Jason, what really caught my attention about the way that you’ve been able to, you know, to build up your business as a a hard-line lender. ⁓

    Jason Milliken (04:18)
    wow. Okay.

    Okay.

    Leo Wehdeking (04:37)
    Can you tell us a little bit more? Can you dive in into how you’ve been able to help people?

    Jason Milliken (04:47)
    explain a little bit how it works so they have a better understanding how it works.

    for instance, many years ago I had a borrower called me. She was building a new house and the house was finished. She put down a $50,000 deposit. So it was $550,000 a house. She owned a house free and clear that was worth $500,000.

    We did this loan about eight years ago. And at the time they pulled money out of their 401. There was a penalty. They had a tax penalty for $150,000. So they couldn’t get a mortgage. They were denied. Meanwhile, they’re going to lose their $50,000 deposit on this house. So what I did was I came in and bought the new house for 550,000. They already put 50. So I put up 500,000. We used their…

    The house they had that was free and clear worth $500,000. So we had $1,050,000 in collateral that we lend $500,000. So we’re at a 50 % loan of value.

    They eventually sold the house for 550. We allowed them to pay down the tax lien of the one, I think it was 140, 150. And once that was paid, then they were able to get a mortgage. Minus the, so they paid, let’s say, we got like 350 back. We allowed them to pay that back when they sold the house for 500. I don’t know exact numbers, but they were able to go get a mortgage for, let’s say 200,000.

    Leo Wehdeking (06:36)
    Mm-hmm.

    Jason Milliken (06:57)
    then pay us the final balance. So that was a scenario where we able to come in. No one knew what to do. They’re running around in circles, mortgage brokers, how do we fix this? How can we help them? And I was like, it’s very simple. Add both values together, lend them the money and close the deal. So we’re very strategic with lending, for the most part, most of our loans are bridge loans.

    Had a guy a month ago, I closed a loan for…

    Three and a half million, he had a house that he bought for seven million, it was worth 12 million completed, did a full renovation on it, it was halfway through, needed three and a half million, I lent him the money. I looked at the house on a Wednesday, I closed on a Monday. That simple. We’re very, very quick, we close typically, I the quickest I’ve ever closed was a deal in Miami last year.

    Leo Wehdeking (07:33)
    well.

    Jason Milliken (07:42)
    I looked at the house on Thursday. Luckily the title was already almost completed. Closed on Friday. It was going to auction on a Monday. So I saved the guy from losing his house. You know, ⁓

    Leo Wehdeking (07:49)
    Wow.

    Yeah, you know,

    and that was actually very good. And it’s a good story, you know, because Miami right now, well, all Florida, it’s a hot market. Everybody wants to own a property over there. Everybody wants to live over there. So if they get the chance, you know, to I’ve seen a lot of people getting evicted from their houses because they just they just they can afford rent or they can afford mortgage.

    People, a lot of people after COVID, they lost their jobs. ⁓ Many things are happening, know, not only in Florida, all across the world. So you being able to help, you know, not all, I wish you could help them all. And I’m pretty sure that you want to help them all. Right.

    Jason Milliken (08:39)
    I do and I turn people away daily. I got old women that are 70s and 80s that are living on social security.

    You know, they can’t pay the taxes. I can’t help them, unfortunately, you know, because of the laws that were created back in, you know, 2008 during the downturn, you know, Dodd-Frank and it us from helping these people. ⁓ So my hands are tied. I, I unfortunately I have to tell them I can’t help them. You know, I kind of give a little advice, you know, sometimes, you know, they have a lot of equity and they’re, they’re in foreclosure and sometimes I tell them, listen,

    Leo Wehdeking (09:00)
    Correct. Exactly.

    Jason Milliken (09:16)
    I had a woman that had a big property her husband built for her. He passed away. She was giving money to her kids. She had a horse on the property that she loved. And I said, listen, I hate to say this, but get rid of the horse, sell the house before you lose your three to $400,000 of equity. Go buy a trailer or something for 75 or 100 grand and live there. She was 80 something years old.

    I don’t know what happened to her. hope everything worked out, but it’s tough. Florida’s gotten very expensive. It’s a very expensive place to live.

    Leo Wehdeking (09:48)
    Yeah, very, very, very expensive.

    Jason Milliken (10:25)
    I know a lot of people that are leaving here and they’re moving to the Carolinas and the Georges because it’s cheap to live there. But for the most part, we lend on all types of assets, commercial land, gas stations.

    Leo Wehdeking (10:25)
    Yeah.

    It is. Definitely it is.

    Jason Milliken (10:41)
    ⁓ auto repair stores, laundry mats, any kind of real estate. Any kind of real estate you could think of will lend on ⁓

    I mean, you think of it, we can do it. And the beautiful thing I love about real estate doesn’t go anywhere. It’s dirt, it’s there. There could be a sinkhole that could form. That is a problem, but for the most part, could catch fire. But for the most part, it doesn’t go anywhere. as I always tell, because we raise capital from investors like every other company out there, your money is secured by the greatest asset in the world, which is real estate.

    Leo Wehdeking (10:56)
    Exactly that’s for sure

    Exactly

    for sure Now Jason and and actually that’s not that’s something that it’s not easy to do nowadays, you know

    Jason Milliken (11:21)
    They don’t make any more of it.

    Well,

    they do make more of it over in China. They take these big, you know, in the ocean and they start dumping all this sand and they create islands and like they’re doing it Dubai. they don’t make it in Florida yet or in the United States. No.

    Leo Wehdeking (11:44)
    Not yet Not yet, not yet, but I eventually

    eventually we won’t be here to see it actually I believe Okay, so Jason let me ask you this ⁓ What’s been? The key to keeping your business running smoothly. Okay. What is your recipe?

    Jason Milliken (11:53)
    No.

    being able to pivot in different markets.

    Leo Wehdeking (12:06)
    Okay, all right.

    Jason Milliken (12:07)
    And what

    I mean by that is adjusting to the markets. So right now we’re in a downturn. Some people say we are, some people say we’re not. I know we’re in a downturn. And the reason why I know this is because everyone calls us every day and they’re out of money. You know, they’ve got a house worth 200 grand or 300 grand or say a million bucks. Let’s just do a round number so it’s easier for the viewers. House is worth a million, they owe 800 grand and they’re trying to call me.

    to pull another 100 grand out. They’re got $200,000 in equity. And I’m like, we don’t lend on that loan of value. Our max would be $600,000. So when you have people calling weekly that are in hard money loans too, I’ve had guys calling that are in hard money loans and they’re at a 50 % leverage and they’re trying to go to a 60 % leverage. Just like, Jay, I just need a loan for another year. I’m in a hard money loan.

    there’s problems out there. I’m gonna sell the house next year, but I just need another year. Well, if I lend you at 60 or 70%, I’m gonna be at, in the next year, I’m probably gonna be at a 70 % loan to value or maybe 80, because the values are coming down. During COVID, everything doubled and tripled. So…

    Leo Wehdeking (13:09)
    Exactly.

    And not only in Florida, everywhere. Yeah, everywhere. Now, Jason, ⁓ I know that every operator I know has a moment where things got real. Maybe a deal that went sideways or a time that you had to pivot really fast, like you mentioned. ⁓ Do you mind sharing one of those moments for the audience?

    Jason Milliken (13:14)
    Everywhere,

    When you say a deal got real, when you like.

    Leo Wehdeking (13:37)
    You know like maybe a deal. No, no idea a deal that went sideways something that that you had to work around real fast

    Jason Milliken (13:38)
    Like that?

    on a closing or a deal that’s already been funded?

    Leo Wehdeking (13:51)
    Maybe whatever, which may be a deal that was already funded, I believe,

    Jason Milliken (13:55)
    to be truthful with you, I don’t, you know, I, I really cherry pick my loans. I look at hundreds of loans a week and I pick the best loans and I fund the best loans. I have a, an intuition for reading people really quick and I can read their energy and I’ve never picked a, I never picked a loser yet. ⁓ people do have problems. Things happen. People die.

    Leo Wehdeking (14:00)
    Okay.

    Okay, perfect.

    Jason Milliken (14:19)
    ⁓ Yeah, here’s one. I had a guy die, you know, we were in a loan for three months and he passed away on us. ⁓ Unfortunately, and ⁓ I called his daughter, the broker called me and says, hey, so-and-so passed away. So I called the daughter and says, hey, listen, your father had a loan with us. I’m not sure if you know that, you know, and ⁓ I’m not going to charge you default interest. Your payments due today.

    So, you know, because technically he’d be in default if he did, if she didn’t make the payment, he’d be in default. like, you don’t need to make a payment right now. I don’t know where you’re at, but let’s work it through. Let’s work through it and just make the payment when you can.

    So the interest rate on that loan was 12 % and I kept it at 12%. The default rate could have been 18 % on that loan. So that’s something that I’m not gonna do that to someone.

    Leo Wehdeking (15:09)
    Okay.

    Jason Milliken (15:13)
    any other lender out there and I know a few out there know of a few out there that would that would have made it 18 % and tried foreclosing on the property. Yeah, yeah, and I’m not that guy.

    Leo Wehdeking (15:21)
    Yeah, they will try to benefit from the situation. Yeah, all right.

    Actually, I think that’s what separates the folks who just dabble from the ones who stay in the game long term. Because what you did in that situation, trust me, I had ⁓ a relative, ⁓ my brother-in-law, he died like three months ago, very young. Yeah, well… ⁓

    Jason Milliken (16:26)
    Sorry about the walls.

    Leo Wehdeking (16:29)
    He had a condition that he never knew about, not even my sister, because, you know, it’s my sister. And ⁓ I’m not saying that something like that happened, but he was a lender. He’s the same like you, but he didn’t lend. ⁓ How do you call that? Because he was back in Colombia. He was living over there. over there, they lend money to other people.

    Jason Milliken (16:46)
    Okay.

    Leo Wehdeking (16:57)
    Okay, so a lot of people, try to take advantage of the situation. But thankfully, my brother-in-law, he was very organized and he kept everything in his computer. and my sister knew for some reason she knew something about his business. And ⁓ now every everything is, you know, it’s good. But there were a few people.

    Jason Milliken (17:15)
    Thank you.

    Leo Wehdeking (17:22)
    You know, trying to say like, hey, I already paid him and my sister was, okay, so where’s your signature? know, like over here in the documents, it says that you still owe me money. So pay me my money. ⁓ But yeah, I understand. I understand that, man. I understand that. Now, let me ask you something, Jason. ⁓

    Jason Milliken (17:28)
    Yeah.

    Mm-hmm. Yep.

    Yeah.

    Leo Wehdeking (17:40)
    What are you most focused on solving or scaling next in your business? What do you want to achieve? What is the next real goal for you?

    Jason Milliken (17:53)
    I mean, you know, it’s just building a very successful business. I’ve built a lot of businesses in the past and I’ve had some really good exits in the past. And ⁓ I’ve fallen in love with this business over close to two decades ago. Two decades ago, I was in the business, but I really didn’t truly focus on it. And so this is my main focus. I’ve stopped all my other businesses. This is it. I love it. ⁓

    Leo Wehdeking (18:01)
    Okay.

    Yes.

    Jason Milliken (18:20)
    The opportunity is great because I’m able to help people and with that said, I’m able to make great money. ⁓

    Really just looking at scale it, taking it from running up to $100 million or maybe a billion dollars at some point. Yeah, exactly. That’s the goal.

    Leo Wehdeking (18:36)
    Exactly, yeah, why not? Why not? That’s the whole idea, right? That’s what we

    all… that’s everyone’s goal, okay? Keep going higher, keep going higher. Alright, man.

    Jason Milliken (18:46)
    We’ll pay the investors,

    keep everyone happy and just keep making money.

    Leo Wehdeking (18:50)
    Exactly, that’s it, that’s That’s

    big. That’s actually pretty big. ⁓ depending on how you move, you can either compound things or create chaos depending on how you play it. So, we always have to keep faith in God. Now, I know that a lot of people are listening, are either early in their journey or they’re trying to level up. And I think they’ll benefit

    Jason Milliken (19:08)
    very true.

    Leo Wehdeking (19:17)
    from hearing this from someone like you. Now when it comes about building relationships and growing your network, what’s made the biggest difference for you?

    Jason Milliken (19:29)
    I would say referrals.

    Leo Wehdeking (19:31)
    referrals. Okay.

    Jason Milliken (19:32)
    You know, the key in life is, it’s not, it’s…

    Referrals is the greatest asset you can have because someone you’ve worked with in the past is going to refer you to someone else. And then that person knows this is a good person you want to work with. So that’s one of our strong, like I said, I’ve built a lot of businesses in the past. So with that said, I built a network. I have over 1,200 people in my personal phone and my business phone. I have two separate phones. My business phone, have over 1,400 brokers in that.

    Leo Wehdeking (19:49)
    All right.

    Mm-hmm.

    Jason Milliken (20:05)
    But I, I leveraged my relationships that I’ve built over the past 30 years, people that I know and reached out to them and said, Hey guys, I’m in this business. This is what I’m doing. You know, anyone that’s looking for capital, you know, to expand their business. And those referrals have been, have been, you know, great success because it’s huge. When someone refers you, it’s like, this is the person, there’s no questions. They’re not going to shop.

    Leo Wehdeking (20:24)
    All right.

    Jason Milliken (20:31)
    They’re not gonna second guess you. They’re gonna go with you.

    Leo Wehdeking (20:35)
    Yeah, exactly. if someone is referring you, it means that you had a very good relationship with them while you were building your business together. Well, the type of business, any business, exactly. Yeah. And that’s something that actually that’s something for me, that’s something that you can fake. Actually, no, no, you cannot fake referrals. You cannot fake relationships because when someone is talking

    Jason Milliken (20:37)
    Lacerate.

    or any business. Yeah. Any business.

    No, you can’t do that. That’s not possible.

    Leo Wehdeking (21:03)
    good about you and your business about what you do. They’re putting also their name on the table. Because just referring, no one refers another person per se, like you say, per se. No one does that. The only way that they do that is because they work with the person, they like you. Exactly. And they said, like, you know what? Hey, Leo, go with Jason.

    Jason Milliken (21:17)
    Yeah.

    They like you. They love you.

    Leo Wehdeking (21:32)
    Jason is the guy, yeah he’s gonna help you, he’s not gonna overcharge you for anything, he’s the perfect lender, the one that you’re looking for and that gives you confidence, that gives you trust. So you actually go to the business or to the person and you go happy, you go motivated because…

    Jason Milliken (21:33)
    most solid guy in the world. This is who you want to work with.

    Leo Wehdeking (21:57)
    in your mind, like, hey, my friend told me that I should go with this person. So that’s something for me, you know, that gives ⁓ positivity to the people, you know, so.

    Jason Milliken (22:13)
    problem in this world we live in and I have this problem in trying to get other stuff done in other businesses that I I have one other business, you know, like a land development business, right? And I’m trying to get guys to do work and no one wants to work. They want to do a half ass job. can’t find anybody, you know, but if I was that, if you, if I found myself hypothetically, I would do an excellent job start to finish. So it’s hard to find a guy that is going to do what they say they’re going to do.

    Leo Wehdeking (22:33)
    Mm-hmm.

    Exactly, correct, correct. I think you and I were in the… Yeah.

    Jason Milliken (22:40)
    Yeah, so that’s a big problem. So it’s back to

    referring someone that’s a good person that’s actually gonna do what they say they’re gonna do. And that’s gonna be reasonable on fees. That’s another thing. And I’m very reasonable. I’m cheaper than everyone else out there, because I don’t have big overhead. And the reason why I don’t have a huge overhead is because I don’t need it. Again, I choose and pick my battles, my loans that I fund, and I just keep everything low.

    Leo Wehdeking (22:47)
    Correct, Yeah, before…

    you

    Correct.

    Jason Milliken (23:09)
    You know, so I don’t have to charge these astronomical fees like some of these other lenders out there that, know, the first of the month, you know, they’re already behind a hundred grand or 200 grand because they have huge payrolls. You know, so I’m able to pass the savings.

    Leo Wehdeking (23:20)
    Correct.

    Good good. Alright Jason before we wrap up if someone wanted to reach out to you connect with you maybe collaborate or learn more a little bit about what you’re doing what’s the best way for them to reach out to you or to connect with you?

    Jason Milliken (23:39)
    ⁓ Either email or phone they can reach me on my cell five six one seven seven seventeen fifty three or ⁓ email info at hard money loan Solutions plural .com info at hard money loan Solutions .com easiest way shoot me an email with a loan request include the address in the subject line Some people say deals are like hey, I need a loan on this place in Miami ⁓ Here’s all the details

    What’s the address?

    Leo Wehdeking (24:09)
    Correct, correct.

    Jason Milliken (24:10)
    I I was gonna find my, I was trying to look for my crystal ball. I got it over here somewhere. I don’t know unless it fell off my desk. Yeah, they expect me to give them terms and I don’t know anything about the property. I don’t know where it’s at in Oh man. Oh, here it is. Here it is. They want me to break this thing out. you know.

    Leo Wehdeking (24:22)
    Alright, alright. Well, perfect. ⁓ you found it! You found it!

    Well, break it. If you break it, you you can be Aladdin. All right, Jason, listen, I really appreciate your time, your story and your perspective. All right, we need more people like you ⁓ in this space who are actually ⁓ doing it the right way. All right, thanks very much for being over here. And for those of you tuning in, all right, if you got value for this, make sure you’re subscribed. All right, we got more conversations coming up with operators just like

    Jason Milliken (24:35)
    Yeah

    Leo Wehdeking (25:01)
    Jason who are out there doing it doing real business. All right. See you on the next episode

    Jason Milliken (25:08)
    Thank you, I appreciate everything.

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