Real Estate Capital Simplified
Colorado Land Loans & Acquisition-Development Financing
Land financing in Colorado is real but rationed
Banks lend selectively on entitled land at conservative leverage — commonly around half of value, with 25–30%+ equity expected — while private lenders fill the speed-and-story gaps at a price. I'm Carl Riggins. Through RECAPITAL.ai, I arrange land, A&D, and the construction capital that usually should have been the plan all along. Colorado statewide, $1M to $100M+.
Lenders don't lend on land. They lend on what you're about to do with it. Raw dirt produces no income and exits only through entitlement or construction, which makes a standalone land loan a bet on your next move. Every structure below works better the more clearly that next move is already underway.
Why is land so hard to finance?
Because the bank remembers 2008 and its examiner remembers it louder. Land sits in the most scrutinized bucket of a bank's CRE allocation, so even good land requests compete for a sliver of appetite.
The practical consequence: the lender's first question isn't about the parcel, it's about your timeline to vertical. Entitled land with a construction start inside eighteen months is financeable; a land bank is a cash purchase wearing a loan application.
What are the realistic routes?
- Bank A&D loans — for entitled parcels moving toward construction: acquisition plus horizontal development (grading, utilities, roads) in one facility, at conservative leverage with recourse. The cheapest land money that exists, reserved for sponsors with a real schedule.
- Private and bridge capital — for speed, un-entitled land, or complicated stories. Leverage near 50% of value, pricing well above bank money, terms built around your entitlement or sale milestone.
- Seller financing — still the most underused tool in Colorado land deals. A seller carry at a sensible rate beats most institutional quotes, and it's a negotiation, not an application.
- The construction package — usually the right answer. If you'll build within a reasonable horizon, land acquisition folds into total project cost in a [construction financing → /colorado-construction-financing] request, and land you already own counts toward equity at appraised value. The land stops being the problem and becomes the down payment.
What about carrying land through entitlement?
Hardest money to raise and the most important to plan for
Entitlement risk is binary in a way lenders hate, so the capital that carries it is equity-like: your cash, a land partner, seller carry, or high-cost private debt sized to survive delays. Budget the carry honestly — taxes, interest, consultants, and the quarter the hearing slips — because the entitlement that takes three months longer than planned is the rule, not the exception.