Short answer: a standard mortgage won't lend on a partly built property, because there's no finished asset to value. You need a construction-completion or bridge loan that funds the remaining work in draws, sized against a verified budget and the finished value.
What lenders want to see
- A realistic remaining budget and a contractor ready to finish.
- Your experience. On one Colorado mid-construction purchase, the same lender quoted 9.00% for an experienced sponsor and 11.75% once the borrower was classified as having no recent experience.
- Enough cash for your share of the remaining costs.
A real example
An industrial contractor in Louisiana with an unfinished office/warehouse got a conditional approval for a $4.5M completion bridge (10.25% interest-only, 24 months, about 53% of the required appraised value) before moving to a USDA-guaranteed loan for the long term.
What to do
- Get a line-item budget and contractor bid for the remaining work.
- Document every completed deal you've done; it moves your pricing tier.
- Plan the exit: sale, refinance, or a permanent loan.
Related: Construction · Fix & flip