Learn hard money lending from someone who’s built the business from every angle.

17+ Years. Multiple Market Cycles. Over $1 Billion in Real Estate Financing. Thousands of Investors Served.

Most people teaching hard money lending have never actually built a hard money lending business.

Some have invested in real estate. Others have brokered loans. A few have raised private capital.

Very few have done all of it.

I have.

My name is Rod Stanback, Founder and CEO of Flip Funding and Hard Money University. For more than 17 years, I’ve lived every side of this business, from buying investment properties to brokering loans, building correspondent relationships, and ultimately becoming a direct private lender funding deals nationwide.

This isn’t theory.

This is experience earned one deal at a time.

My journey began in 2009 when I purchased my first investment property. Like most new investors, I quickly realized that finding great deals was only half the battle. The real challenge was finding reliable financing.

That challenge changed the trajectory of my career.

In 2012, I entered the hard money industry as a broker, helping real estate investors secure financing for fix and flips, rental properties, new construction, multifamily properties, and commercial real estate. Every transaction taught me something new about underwriting, risk, deal structure, and, most importantly, how to solve problems that other lenders couldn’t.

As my knowledge and relationships grew, so did my business.

Around 2015, Flip Funding expanded into correspondent lending, giving us greater control over the lending process while continuing to build strategic relationships with many of the nation’s leading private lenders.

Then, in 2018, I reached another milestone by launching our direct lending platform, allowing Flip Funding to fund qualifying transactions with our own capital.

Today, we operate as a direct private lender while continuing to broker and correspond loans when another capital source offers a better solution for our clients.

Why?

Because our loyalty has never been to one loan product.

Our loyalty is to helping investors close more profitable deals.

That philosophy has become the foundation of everything we do.

Over the years, I’ve helped investors navigate booming markets, rising interest rates, tightening credit, economic uncertainty, and some of the toughest lending environments our industry has experienced.

While many lenders disappeared when markets became difficult, Flip Funding continued helping investors secure financing by focusing on relationships, creative problem-solving, and adapting to changing market conditions.

Experience matters.

Especially when markets become unpredictable.

Today, Flip Funding has facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate financing for investors across the country and has earned recognition from respected organizations including Business.org, Benzinga, Fit Small Business, and other leading industry publications.

We’ve also been recognized as one of the top-performing lending partners by several nationally recognized private lenders, including Lima One Capital, Kiavi (formerly LendingHome), PeerStreet, and others.

Those awards are appreciated.

But they aren’t what I’m most proud of.

What matters most is helping investors accomplish goals they once believed were out of reach.

Helping someone buy their first investment property.

Helping an experienced investor scale from five properties to fifty.

Helping a broker build a six or seven-figure business.

Helping someone create generational wealth for their family.

That’s the real reward.

Why I Founded Hard Money University

After spending years in this industry, I noticed something that didn’t make sense.

If you want to become a real estate agent, there are schools.

If you want to become a mortgage loan officer, there are licensing courses.

If you want to become an appraiser, an insurance agent, or even a home inspector, there are countless training programs available.

But if you want to become a hard money lender or private lending broker…

Almost nothing.

Yet this is one of the fastest-growing and most profitable sectors of real estate finance.

Even worse, I realized that most people believed the biggest myth in the industry.

They thought you needed millions of dollars to become a hard money lender.

You don’t.

The people who build successful lending businesses aren’t always the ones with the deepest pockets.

They’re the ones who understand deals.

They know how to structure financing.

They build strong relationships.

They know where to find capital.

And they consistently connect borrowers with the right lending solutions.

Those skills can be taught.

That’s why I created Hard Money University.

My mission is to eliminate years of trial and error by teaching you the exact systems, strategies, relationships, and processes I’ve spent nearly two decades developing.

You’re not learning from someone who simply teaches lending.

You’re learning from someone who has lived every stage of it.

An investor.

A broker.

A correspondent lender.

A direct private lender.

Someone who’s experienced multiple market cycles and continues to close deals in today’s market.

Whether your goal is to earn additional income as a loan broker, build a nationwide lending business, create a private lending fund, or simply become a better real estate investor, you’ll gain practical, real-world knowledge you can apply immediately.

Hard Money University exists to create the next generation of ethical, knowledgeable, and highly successful hard money professionals.

Because when you know how to solve financing problems, you don’t just build a business.

You create opportunities.

You help investors grow.

You revitalize communities.

And you create lasting wealth for yourself and the people you serve.

Welcome to Hard Money University.

Let’s build something extraordinary together.