At Cetan Funds, we’re more than just a lender. We’re a partner in your success, offering tools and knowledge that help you move faster, work smarter, and close with certainty. Our experienced team understands how important speed, clarity, and dependable financing are for real estate investors, especially when you’re working against the clock.
Whether you’re flipping your first property or aiming to streamline loan management and due diligence, these essential tools – sourced from our website and trusted organizations – are built to give you a real edge in this growing market.
Hard Money Loan Calculators
Cetan Funds offers free calculators to help you make informed decisions by estimating construction costs, interest-only payments, and the maximum price someone should be willing to pay for a residential investment property. Here’s a list of the calculators available:
- Rule-of-Thumb Rehab Estimator: Cetan Funds’ Rule-of-Thumb Rehab Estimator provides rough cost estimates for renovating single-family homes based on their extensive experience in Oregon and Washington markets. It’s a helpful tool for getting ballpark figures but should only be used for informational purposes, as actual costs vary widely by location and project specifics.
- Cetan Interest-Only Payment Calculator: Use this tool to estimate your interest-only payments based on a given loan amount. It’s designed for general planning purposes. If you’re applying for a loan and need precise figures tailored to your situation, contact your loan officer.
- Maximum Allowable Offer Calculator: The Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) formula helps investors determine the highest price for a residential property, like a fix-and-flip, while aiming for substantial returns. This popular tool uses your projected After-Repair Value (ARV), rehab budget, and risk tolerance to guide smart buying decisions.
Ready to crunch the numbers with confidence? Try our free calculators now to estimate rehab costs, set smart offer limits, and plan your next investment with precision.
High-Impact Networking & Educational Resources
Stay informed and connected with resources to support your growth as a real estate investor. These organizations and resources can help you navigate the hard money lending landscape – from educational events to networking opportunities – with confidence!
Organizations & Networking
- American Association of Private Lenders (AAPL): The American Association of Private Lenders (AAPL) provides essential national resources for hard money lenders and real estate investors, including industry-standard certification, compliance tools, market insights, and a robust professional network. With education programs like the CPLA and regular events, AAPL helps investors stay informed and connected.
- Central Oregon Rental Owners Association (COROA): Serving Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, and Klamath Counties, COROA provides education, networking, and advocacy for rental owners.
- Northwest Real Estate Investors Association (NWREIA): Serving Oregon and Southwest Washington, NWREIA is a chapter of the National Real Estate Investors Association. They offer education, networking, and resources for new and experienced investors.
- The Oregon Real Estate Investors Association (ORREIA): This local REIA offers a strong network for connecting with fellow investors and lenders while learning how to use hard money effectively. With workshops, meetings, and member perks, they provide practical education and support to help grow your real estate business.
- Oregon Rental Housing Association (ORHA): This association focuses on the interests of smaller rental owners and operators. They advocate for landlords’ rights and offer training and resources.
- Real Estate Promo: A valuable marketing and networking platform that helps real estate investors and developers increase deal visibility and build relationships within the real estate investing community.
- Women Real Estate Investors of Oregon (WREIO): A community focused on supporting and empowering women in real estate investment across Oregon.
- Meetup.com: Search for real estate investor meetups in your city.
- Chamber of Commerce Events: Networking with local professionals and developers. Check your local Chamber of Commerce for events near you.
- Social Media/Facebook Groups: Several valuable networking groups gather on social platforms, especially Facebook, such as Investor Lab (which hosts a quarterly meeting in Portland), PDX REI Group, REVIN (in Vancouver), Willamette Valley Real Estate Investors, Salem Real Estate Investors, and many more.
Educational Resources for Real Estate Investors & Hard Money Borrowers
- Cetan Funds Articles: The Cetan Funds Articles page features expert insights and practical guidance to help you make informed real estate investment decisions. It’s a trusted resource on market trends, strategies, and hard money lending insights.
- Cetan Funds Projects: The Cetan Funds Projects page highlights our past investments and success stories, demonstrating how our financing solutions have enabled clients to achieve their real estate goals. It provides insight into the tangible impact of hard money lending.
- BiggerPockets: A comprehensive online platform that empowers real estate investors at all levels to learn proven strategies, analyze deals with confidence, and build valuable connections through tools, forums, podcasts, and expert-driven content.
- Udemy and Coursera: These both offer beginner courses on real estate investing basics.
- REtipster: This is an educational platform and content hub for real estate investors that offers practical tips and tutorials for flipping, wholesaling, and rental investing.
Strategic Property & Deal Analysis Tools
These tools help evaluate if a deal makes financial sense, especially when borrowing at higher interest rates:
- County Assessor: Checking the county assessor’s website gives you quick access to key details like ownership, value, taxes, and zoning, which are essential for verifying properties and spotting red flags.
- DealCheck: This real estate analysis tool helps investors streamline processes and quickly evaluate deals using cash flow projections and ROI calculations.
- PropStream: A powerful platform for real estate investors, offering advanced search tools and property data to find distressed properties and motivate sellers.
- Rehab Valuator: A comprehensive tool for analyzing deals and marketing that assists investors in evaluating rehabs, estimating profits, and generating reports.
- Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS): The primary MLS in Oregon, accessible through a licensed real estate agent. It’s a valuable tool for tracking listings, comps, and days on the market.
- Redfin and Zillow: Offers public-facing access to property data, neighborhood trends, and estimate tools (with limitations).
- City-Data and NeighborhoodScout: Provide demographic, crime, school, and neighborhood-level data for investment analysis.
Title Companies
These can be a great tool for investors as they offer a comprehensive list of properties that are in pre-forclosure or probate. This makes it a good source for motivated sellers and buyers looking for distressed properties to flip.
In Oregon, several reputable title companies provide access to these types of lists. Here are a few worth exploring:
- Cascade Title & Escrow: With locations in both Eugene and Florence, this title company offers traditional title and escrow services, along with contract collections and 1031 exchange services.
- Western Title & Escrow: Based in Eugene but great for the valley, central, and parts of the Oregon coast. Specializing in title and escrow services, you can also find calculators, apps, CC&Rs, and more on their website.
- Fidelity National Title: The parent company of Western Title, you can find offices all over the state. Their title and escrow services are great for real estate professionals, lenders, buyers, sellers, and attorneys.
- Evergreen Land Title: Locally owned and operated in Lane County, this title company offers fast service, often getting a preliminary title report to clients within 48 hours.
- Lawyers Title: With a strong presence in Portland, this is a great option for buyers and sellers in the more northern areas of Oregon. In addition to their title services, they also provide continuing education resources.
- Chicago Title: This title company has several locations around the Portland area. They offer premiere services that include public and private school reports, neighborhood demographics, sale records, and more.
- Old Republic Title: Supporting the Portland area, real estate professionals, investors, and homeowners will appreciate the services they provide for both commercial and residential properties.
- Ticor Title: Get access to buyer and seller resources such as a moving guide and information on fraud protection. This is a great option for many smaller/rural Oregon counties we commonly work in.
- Amerititle: Another great option for many small, rural counties. They come with plenty of experience – a combined 1,000 years – in the services they provide.
These are only a handful of the resources available to Oregon real estate investors that can deepen their knowledge, grow their networks, and give them tools that support smarter investment decisions.
Whether you’re managing multiple properties or flipping your first home, Cetan Funds is here to support your journey with flexible hard money loan solutions, expert insight, and proven tools. Contact us today or visit our Loan Programs page to learn more about flexible hard money loans tailored to your needs.
Loan Inquiry
For more information on how Cetan Funds can finance your real estate project, please fill out our inquiry form below. We will respond in two business days.
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Investor Inquiry
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Broker Inquiry
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General Investor FAQs
What is Cetan Income Fund’s Investment Objective?
Cetan Income Fund and Cetan Opportunity Fund (the “Funds”) are real estate debt funds that deliver consistent and attractive risk-adjusted returns to investors who seek preservation of capital and income.
Who Manages The Fund?
Our CEO, Mary Merriman, manages the Fund and lending operation. She has over 40 years of lending experience, holding a variety of executive-level positions at banks and an economic development lending organization. Steven Yett is actively involved in daily operations, fund management, and business development. Zach Smith is also an integral part of the team, leading loan originations and other business development activities. To learn more, please visit our Meet the Team Page or contact us.
Can Anyone Invest?
Cetan Income Fund: This Fund is only open to accredited investors with a net worth of $1,000,000 excluding their primary residence, or annual income of $200,000 for single filing status or $300,000 for joint filing status. This Fund is open to investors from anywhere in the United States.
Cetan Opportunity Fund: This Fund is only open to Oregon residents with either 1) a minimum annual gross income of $70,000 and a minimum net worth of $70,000 excluding their home, home furnishings, and automobiles; or 2) a minimum net worth of $250,000 excluding their home, home furnishings, and automobiles.
Can I Invest with IRA Funds?
Yes. Investors with a Self-Directed IRA account can invest in the Fund. Currently, we are well below our 25% threshold.
If you do not have a Self-Directed IRA account, we can help you create a self-directed IRA (SD-IRA) account and use those funds to invest in the Fund. Please contact us with questions and a list of IRA custodians we have worked with in the past.
How Do I Track My Account Balance?
We provide investors a secure online investor portal to access subscription documents, quarterly statements, fund financial information, investor updates, and tax documents.
How Do I Withdraw My Investment?
Every equity investment has a 12-month “lock-up” period where withdrawals are only allowed for hardships and early withdrawal fees may apply. After this “lock-up” period, investors may withdraw at any time with at least 60-day notice.
How is Risk Mitigated?
Management actively monitors our real estate debt fund and mitigates risk by deploying several strategies:
1. We maintain a diversified portfolio of loan types, loan purposes, and geographic locations in Oregon and SW Washington. Our loan types consist of residential and commercial loans with subtypes of new construction, rehab, acquisition and development, and bridge/term. We only finance business-purpose loans that provide funding for purchases, refinances, rehabs, new construction, and development.
2. The portfolio’s weighted average loan size is typically below $500,000, so our transactions are small. Therefore, the projects tend to be more resilient given the high demand for affordable housing and when faced with conditions that negatively affect the real estate market.
3. Generally, our loan-to-value (LTV) ranges are from 60-75% in Cetan Income Fund and 65-80% in Cetan Opportunity Fund, with a portfolio target of a weighted average LTV at 65% or less for Cetan Income Fund and 70% or less for Cetan Opportunity Fund. To determine value we complete an internal evaluation that uses a variety of sources, including an Automated Valuation Model, Broker Price Opinions, as well as our direct sourced market and comparable data. On properties with a unique purpose or for larger loans, we typically order appraisals.
4. Loans are typically secured with first position liens. Cetan Opportunity Fund may also selectively fund loans secured with second position liens.
5. In Cetan Income Fund, loan terms range from 6-36 months with the weighted average asset life in the loan portfolio target of 12-15 months. In Cetan Opportunity Fund, loan terms range from 6-60 months with the weighted average asset life in the loan portfolio target of 15 – 21 months.
6. We use leverage minimally as it is not a permanent funding strategy. Cetan Income Fund has a bank line of credit that is used to meet temporary liquidity needs but rests it at $0 frequently during the year. Cetan Opportunity Fund, on the other hand, was recently launched in 2023 and does not currently use leverage. Once the Cetan Opportunity Fund reaches $5 million in assets under management, we may establish a bank line of credit to use to meet temporary liquidity needs. Management will always limit leverage in both Funds to a maximum of 20 – 25% of assets under management.
Why Do Banks Not Make These Loans?
This is because of several factors, including regulatory constraints, banks’ large overhead expense making smaller loans unprofitable transactions, and obtaining a bank loan often takes too long, or the process of obtaining it is complicated and expensive.
Though the typical borrower is creditworthy, they are seeking a loan that is not readily available from traditional banks and credit unions. Cetan Funds addresses this credit and service void in the marketplace by taking reasonable risk while processing applications with speed, transparency, and accuracy.
What Distinguishes Cetan Funds From Other Non-traditional Lenders?
The Cetan Advantage is what sets us apart from other lenders. It provides borrowers superior lending experiences. As a result, our investors are well positioned to realize a positive investing experience as well. The Cetan Advantage embodies the following values:
- Expertise
- Partnership
- Efficiency
- Flexibility
- Integrity
How Are Returns Calculated and Earnings Distributed to Investors?
Both Funds fully distribute net income to all investors on a pro-rata basis quarterly. All investors are treated equally as we do not have a preferred return, classes of shares, or any other preferential treatment.
We close the accounting quarterly, derive the net income, and then our fund management software calculates the distributions to generate investor statements. Dividends may be withdrawn or reinvested in additional shares. Generally, it takes two to three weeks to close a quarter and distribute the earnings to investors.
Are Your Financial Statements Audited?
Yes, our financial statements are audited annually by a qualified CPA firm that specializes in private equity funds that include real estate debt funds and are posted for existing investors as well as available for interested investors.
What Type of Income Will My Earnings Be Considered?
Equity investors earn ordinary income and will receive a K-1 schedule for their tax returns. For IRA investors, Unrelated Business Taxable Income is generated but is limited to the amount of income that is generated from leverage; hence, it is a very small percent.
None of the information herein is to be construed as a solicitation, recommendation or offer to buy or sell any security, financial product, or instrument. Any projections or targets are aspirational only, are not guaranteed, and do not reflect past or current performance. Any report of past performance is no guarantee of any future performance. As with any investment, an investment in the Company is subject to risks, some of which could be substantial. No investment should be made in the Company by any investor who cannot afford to lose their entire investment. There are also restrictions on re-sale of Company securities and no investment should be made by any investor who cannot afford to hold the investment in the Company for a long period of time. This investment is only allowed and suitable for certain kinds of investors, who must have their investment status verified and confirmed in writing. No investment may be made, and no investment will be accepted unless the Company has received and approved the required written verification of each investor’s status.