Hard Money Loans on the Wasatch Front

BuildUp Capital is a Salt Lake City hard money lender. Along the Wasatch Front — Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, Utah and Tooele counties — we make first-position, business-purpose loans of $100K–$10M for 6–18 months, up to 80% LTV.

See if you qualify in 60 secondsUtah hard money overview

The Wasatch Front, by county

We use “Wasatch Front” for the five urbanized counties in the Wasatch Front Regional Council and Mountainland Association of Governments planning areas: Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele and Utah. (Wasatch Front Regional Council / Mountainland AOG planning areas)

County2020 baseJuly 2024Change
Salt Lake1,185,2341,216,274+2.6%
Utah659,397747,234+13.3%
Davis362,681378,470+4.4%
Weber262,218276,118+5.3%
Tooele72,70084,488+16.2%
Total2,542,2302,702,5846.3%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 county population estimates. (U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 estimates)

This is home. Because we are based in Salt Lake City, Wasatch Front collateral is where we can walk a property fastest — from Ogden’s industrial areas and the Davis County corridor, through the Salt Lake Valley, to Lehi, Orem and Provo in Utah County.

Growth is uneven. In the Census Bureau’s estimates, Tooele County (+16%) and Utah County (+13%) grew fastest from 2020 to 2024, while Salt Lake County, already the largest, grew about 3%. The southern and western edges are where we see the most land-to-building timing gaps and owner-user purchases; the Salt Lake Valley is weighted toward refinancing buildings owners already hold.

How Wasatch Front borrowers use hard money

Silicon Slopes owner-user

A Lehi tech-services firm buys a flex building instead of renewing a lease. We close on the purchase date; the SBA 504 refinance follows.

Ogden industrial cash-out

A Weber County fabricator owns two buildings free and clear and cross-collateralizes them for a single working-capital loan.

Salt Lake Valley acquisition

A buyer acquires a West Valley distribution business with its warehouse; we fund the real-estate-secured portion on the seller’s deadline.

Illustrative structures, not specific client transactions.

Hard money loan terms in the Wasatch Front

Loan size
$100K–$10M
Term
6–18 months
Position
First position (a second position is the rare exception)
Max LTV
Up to 80%, residential or commercial
Rates
Rates as low as 11% for prime-market, low-LTV loans; most first-position loans start around 12%.
Payments
Monthly, interest-only; prepayment allowed
Speed
Term sheet typically within 5 business days; close typically around 10 days once diligence is in
Purpose
Business purpose only — not consumer mortgages

Final pricing depends on the property, the market and the exit; fees are stated in the term sheet before you pay for diligence. Documents we ask for

Utah law that applies here

  • Utah business-purpose loans are typically secured by a trust deed. The trustee must be qualified under Utah law — for example, an active member of the Utah State Bar or a title insurance company or agency with an office in Utah. (Utah Code §57-1-21)
  • Non-judicial trust-deed sales follow a recorded notice of default; the trustee may not give notice of sale until at least three months after the notice of default is filed. (Utah Code §57-1-24)

More on collateral, foreclosure and title in hard money loans in Utah.

Cities

Wasatch Front cities we lend in

Loan programs in the Wasatch Front

33 Utah cities in total — see all.

Common questions

Wasatch Front hard money — what people ask

Which Wasatch Front cities do you lend in?
All of them — Ogden, Layton, Bountiful, Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Sandy, Draper, Lehi, Orem, Provo and more. The city list on this page links to each.
Can you inspect my Wasatch Front property quickly?
Yes. We are based in Salt Lake City, so Wasatch Front properties are the easiest for us to see in person, which helps keep a term sheet within about 5 business days.