About
About Investor Loan Compass
We are an independent publication about real estate investor financing. We are not a lender or a broker, and that is the whole point.
Why we exist
Search for any investor-loan topic and most of the top results are written by lenders ranking their own products, or by sites paid to rank them. That leaves investors comparing marketing, not facts. Investor Loan Compass is built to be the neutral resource: clear explanations, original rate data, and free tools, with no lender deciding what we say.
We are a publication of Summit Lead Media. We earn money through advertising and through affiliate or referral relationships with some lenders, which we disclose plainly. Those relationships never decide which lenders we include or how we describe them. See our affiliate disclosure.
Who writes this
Our guides are written by Owen Brandt, the research editor for Investor Loan Compass, who researches and writes about real estate investor financing and is the author of The Lender's Lens. Owen Brandt is a pen name used for our editorial voice. We do not claim to be licensed lenders, brokers, attorneys, or accountants, and nothing on this site is individualized financial, legal, or tax advice.
Our methodology
This is how the work is done, so you can judge it.
- How we explain loans. Guides describe how products and terms work in general, using common industry ranges. We avoid printing a single "today's rate," because a rate without its terms and its date is misleading.
- How the rate survey is built. The Rate and Terms Survey is compiled from published lender pricing, public disclosures, and direct scenario quotes gathered on a fixed borrower profile so figures are comparable. Each edition states its sample, date, profile, and any method change. Unverifiable figures are left out.
- How we compare lenders. We compare on the terms that decide true cost: pricing for your tier, points and fees, prepayment structure, maximum leverage, speed, and property fit. We list established lenders as research starting points, not endorsements, and we tell you to confirm current terms directly.
- How often we update. Guides are dated and revised as the market changes. The survey publishes quarterly.
- How we handle corrections. If we get something wrong, tell us and we will fix it and note the change. Reach us on the contact page.
Our standing rule. Independence is the product. We disclose every paid relationship, keep the survey method public, and never let a referral fee change the substance of what we publish.