Tennessee Investment Property Cash-Out

Cash-Out Refinance on Investment Property —
Equity Out Without Tax Returns

Pull equity out of a rental or a finished flip to fund the next deal. We underwrite the property and your equity, not your paycheck — no W-2s, no tax returns, and no full appraisal on most deals. Rates from 9.99%, 2–3 points, from $50,000, on 9-month terms. Business-purpose lending only.

  • No income verification
  • No full appraisal on most deals
  • Our own capital
  • Terms hold to closing
Call (865) 999-8083 Get a Quote on Your Deal

★★★★★  30 five-star Google reviews  ·  300+ loans and $53M+ funded since 2021  ·  65% repeat borrowers

9.99%
Rates start at
2–3
Points
$50K
Minimum loan
9 mo
Term — short-term
10–14
Days to close

Read this part first

Most investors hear "cash-out refinance" and picture a 30-year loan. That's not what this is, and it matters more than anything else on the page.

This is a short-term, 9-month cash-out secured by investment property. It exists to get equity into your hands quickly — usually so you can move on the next deal while the window is open — not to be the permanent debt you carry for a decade. Payments are interest-only, and at the end of the term the loan needs an exit.

That exit is one of two things, and you should know which before you close:

  • Sell the property inside the term, or
  • Refinance into long-term debt. We don't originate DSCR or 30-year rental loans — we facilitate that takeout through our referral network, and we'd rather start that introduction early than have you looking for one in month eight.

If permitting or a sale runs long and you're paying and staying in touch with us, extensions are generally available. What we won't do is let you close without knowing what the back half looks like.

If you want permanent 30-year debt on a stabilized rental

Say so on the first call and we'll point you straight at a DSCR lender in our network instead. You'd be paying points and a short-term rate for speed you don't need, and we'd rather send you to the right product than sell you ours.

Investment property only

We're a business-purpose lender. That's a real boundary, not a preference, and it's worth being clear about before you gather documents.

Eligible

  • Single-family rentals you don't live in
  • Small multifamily held as investment
  • A finished flip you're holding rather than selling
  • Commercial and retail investment property
  • Property held in an LLC or other entity
  • Small-town and tertiary-market property most lenders decline

Not eligible

  • Your primary residence — including a duplex or triplex where you occupy a unit
  • Any second home or property you occupy part of the year
  • Raw land
  • Mobile home parks
  • RV parks

The owner-occupied line deserves a direct answer, because it's the question we get most. If you live in one unit of a small multifamily and rent the others, we can't do this loan. Once a property is your principal dwelling, a cash-out refinance on it is consumer credit no matter how much rental income the other units produce, and consumer mortgage lending isn't what we do. A bank or credit union is the right call there, and we'll tell you that on the first phone call rather than the fifth.

The straightforward version: if you've got a rental in Fountain City — one of those post-war bungalows, fixed up, tenant paying on time, real equity built — that's exactly the situation this loan was made for. Pull the equity, buy the next property, keep the machine running.

What drives your rate and leverage

Every deal is priced on its own file. There's no flat number we quote everyone.

The range runs 9.99% to 12.99% with 2–3 points on a 9-month term, from $50,000 with no stated maximum. Five things move you inside it:

  • Credit — a clean file prices better, and a rough patch doesn't automatically disqualify you. We read whether you generally meet your obligations, not a threshold score. A one-time event you can explain is different from a sustained pattern.
  • Property location — some markets carry more risk, and we price accordingly rather than declining on population like most lenders do.
  • Experience — a borrower with completed deals behind them usually sees better terms than a first-timer. It affects your pricing, not your eligibility.
  • Income and reserves — not verified through returns or W-2s, but we do want to see you can carry the loan.
  • Equity and leverage — how much you're pulling out versus leaving in the deal. This is usually the biggest single factor.

Equity position and track record swing the number most. We've had investors call assuming their credit would sink the deal, and the property's equity carried it fine. If you have equity in another property as well, cross-collateralizing it can extend what's workable — that's a tool institutional lenders selling on the secondary market simply don't have.

One thing that won't move: what we quote at commitment is what you close at. No committee re-pricing you the week before closing, and no fee that appears at settlement, because there's no capital partner above Chris and Flynt who could force it.

Rehab-to-refinance timing in Knoxville's older neighborhoods

The single most common reason a cash-out stalls here has nothing to do with underwriting.

Fourth and Gill, Old North Knoxville, and Parkridge are full of homes built before 1940 — knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized supply lines, plaster walls. Rehab on those takes longer than a 1990s subdivision flip, and the paperwork behind the rehab tends to lag the work itself.

Here's the part that catches people. If you rewired a 1925 bungalow in Parkridge and the permit is still open with the City of Knoxville Codes Administration rather than closed and inspected, that will slow a refinance — ours or anybody's. An open permit on finished work says the job isn't signed off, whatever the property looks like in person. Properties in unincorporated Knox County go through the county's codes office instead, so confirm which jurisdiction you're in.

The fix is simple and it's a habit rather than a task: close permits as you go, not at the end. Keep your progress videos throughout the job — the same ones we use for draws — organized by room. When you're ready to pull equity you'll have a clean paper trail instead of a scramble, and that single difference is often what separates a two-week close from a two-month one.

Because we skip the full appraisal and don't ask for income documentation, we can move as soon as the rehab is genuinely finished and the property is rent-ready. Standard closings run 10 to 14 days. What controls your timeline is your paperwork, not our underwriting.

What we need, and what we don't

The list is short, which is most of why this moves quickly.

What a bank refinance wants

  • Two years of tax returns
  • W-2s and pay stubs
  • Months of bank statements, with deposits explained
  • Debt-to-income tested across your whole portfolio
  • A full appraisal ordered and waited on

What we need

  • A credit pull
  • Property details, current value, and the equity you're pulling
  • A quick look at your investing track record
  • Rehab documentation — permits closed, photos by room
  • Your exit: sale or long-term refinance

Before we can close

None of these are unusual. They just need to happen before closing rather than during it:

  • Clear title, or existing liens identified with a plan to resolve them
  • Property insurance in place before funding
  • Entity documents if the property is held in an LLC — operating agreement and good standing
  • A payoff statement if there's an existing loan on the property

You work directly with Chris or Flynt from the first call to the closing table. That direct access matters most at exactly the moment a title issue surfaces or a document needs a fast fix — there's no committee reviewing your file somewhere behind the scenes.

Investors on working with us

All 30 of our Google reviews are five stars.

★★★★★

"They lend their own money so they can be quick and nimble when funding your project."

— Peter Amrein
★★★★★

"I've done several deals with Christopher Davis at Approach Lending, and I will say that they are reputable, professional, and easy to work with."

— Kevin Dyke
★★★★★

"Local expertise and willingness to problem solve set them apart."

— Brennan Liu

Cash-out refinance questions

No. It's a 9-month, interest-only cash-out secured by investment property. It gets equity into your hands quickly so you can move on the next deal. At the end of the term you either sell or refinance into long-term debt — and we facilitate that DSCR takeout through our referral network rather than originating it ourselves. If what you want is permanent 30-year debt on a stabilized rental, say so and we'll point you at the right lender instead.
No. Once a property is your principal dwelling, a cash-out refinance on it is consumer credit regardless of how much rental income the other units produce. We're a business-purpose lender and don't originate consumer mortgages. A bank or credit union is the right call for that, and we'd rather tell you on the first call than after you've gathered documents.
Ten to fourteen days on a normal file. We skip full appraisals and income documentation, so the limiting factor is usually your paperwork rather than our underwriting. The single biggest variable on an older Knoxville property is whether your electrical and plumbing permits are closed with the city — that one item often decides between a two-week close and a two-month one.
A credit pull, property details and current value, a look at your investing track record, and your rehab documentation with permits closed. No W-2s, no tax returns, no bank statement stacks, and no full appraisal on most deals. Before closing you'll also need clear title, insurance in place, entity documents if it's held in an LLC, and a payoff statement on any existing loan.
Homes in Fourth and Gill, Old North, and Parkridge were mostly built before 1940, so rehabs run longer and permit history gets scrutinised. If you rewired or replumbed the house, the permit needs to show closed and inspected, not just filed. An open permit on finished work is one of the most common reasons a refinance stalls. Close permits as you go rather than at the end.
There's no cutoff, because we read the story behind the credit rather than the number alone. A clean file prices better, and a one-time event you can explain doesn't rule you out. A sustained pattern of missed obligations is a different conversation. Your equity and your track record carry a lot of the decision.
It depends on the property's value, what you owe, and how much you want to leave in the deal — and the more you pull relative to what stays in, the more it shapes your rate and points. If you hold equity in another property, cross-collateralizing it can extend what's workable. Walking us through your numbers on a call is the fastest way to get a real figure.
Yes — across Tennessee and into Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia. We also fund small towns and tertiary markets most lenders decline on population alone, evaluating actual demand rather than applying an MSA population cap.

Got equity sitting in a rental?

Call and talk to the people who decide. One conversation tells you how much you can pull, what it costs, and what your exit needs to look like.

Call Chris or Flynt — (865) 999-8083 Get a Quote on Your Deal
Approach Lending 5410 Homberg Dr #29a, Knoxville, TN 37919
(865) 999-8083