Investment Analyst - Real Estate Bridge Lending

AFC Mortgage Group has been closing mortgages since 1998. Bridge lending is a newer and rapidly growing vertical of our business—and this will be the first dedicated hire we make specifically for it.

That's what makes this opportunity different.

We expect to fund more than $30 million in bridge loans this year and believe that number can grow to $40 million or more next year .

You'll work directly with AFC's CEO across the entire lifecycle of a bridge loan: underwriting, processing, origination, closing, servicing and payoff.

At first, your job will be to learn the business and execute at a high level. As you grow, we want you helping us improve how we underwrite loans, build processes, manage the portfolio, develop reporting and technology, and eventually help train and lead the people we hire after you.

You're not joining an established 20-person department at the bottom of the org chart.

You're the first dedicated hire in a growing business.

If the bridge division grows the way we believe it will, there should be significantly more responsibility—and more people—behind you.

We're opening a new AFC branch at 1490 Post Road in Fairfield , launching AFC Insurance Group , and continuing to grow Lantern Point , our real estate investment and management business.

Together, we're building businesses around real estate, lending, investing and ownership.

THE BRIDGE PROGRAM

Bridge loans are short-term loans secured by real estate.

Unlike a traditional mortgage company that originates a loan and sells it, AFC deploys its own capital into these transactions. That means we need to understand the property, the borrower, the leverage, the risks and—most importantly—the exit strategy.

We primarily make two types of bridge loans:

BUY BEFORE YOU SELL

A homeowner wants to buy their next house before selling their current one.

We allow qualified homeowners to borrow against the equity in their existing home—generally up to 80% combined loan-to-value—so they can purchase their next property without making the offer contingent on selling first.

Once their existing home sells, the bridge loan is paid off.

REAL ESTATE INVESTORS

We provide bridge and hard-money financing for fix-and-flip and other real estate investment transactions.

We can finance up to 80% of the purchase price plus 100% of eligible renovation costs, subject to a 65% after-repair-value cap.

These loans may involve renovation budgets, construction draws, inspections and multiple stages of funding before the property is eventually sold or refinanced.

Every loan has a property, collateral, borrower, exit strategy and AFC capital at risk.

You'll learn to answer four fundamental questions:

What is the property worth?

How much should we lend?

What could go wrong?

How do we get our money back?

WHAT YOU'LL ACTUALLY DO

This is a hands-on role.

You're not being hired just to analyze spreadsheets or prepare reports. You'll work on bridge loans from the first conversation through the day AFC gets its money back.

1. UNDERWRITING & CREDIT ANALYSIS

You'll help determine whether we should make a loan and how it should be structured.

The goal is to develop the judgment to look at a transaction and understand whether AFC should put its capital at risk.

2. PROCESSING & DEAL EXECUTION

Once we approve a loan, you'll help get it closed.

You'll learn what it actually takes to move a real estate transaction from "approved" to "funded."

3. ORIGINATION & DEAL STRUCTURING

You'll also get exposure to the front end of the business.

Over time, if you're good at the relationship side of the business, there may also be an opportunity to move toward bridge loan origination and sales.

4. SERVICING & PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

Our responsibility doesn't end when the loan closes.

Because AFC holds these bridge loans, we need to manage them until they're paid off.

You'll learn how lenders think differently when they actually have their own capital outstanding.

5. RENOVATION DRAWS

For fix-and-flip and renovation loans, you'll help manage construction funding after closing.

This gives you exposure not just to lending, but to the economics and execution of real estate investment projects.

6. REPORTING & BUILDING THE BUSINESS

Because you're our first dedicated bridge hire, we don't just want you maintaining the system.

Eventually, we want you helping us make it better.

As the business grows, your role should grow with it.

WHAT WE EXPECT YOU TO LEARN

At a larger financial institution, many of these responsibilities would be split across several departments.

Here, you'll get exposure to all of them.

You'll learn:

• Real estate credit analysis
• Bridge and hard-money lending
• Property valuation
• Loan structuring
• LTV, LTC, CLTV and ARV analysis
• Credit and risk management
• Appraisal review
• Title and lien analysis
• Loan processing
• Deal execution
• Loan origination
• Construction and renovation draws
• Loan servicing
• Portfolio management
• Payoffs and extensions
• Real estate investing
• How a lending business is built and scaled

You'll learn how to read an appraisal, title commitment, purchase contract, construction budget and payoff statement.

More importantly, you'll learn how all of those pieces fit together when real money is actually at risk.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

We don't expect you to know everything on Day 1.

We do expect you to learn quickly, ask good questions, take ownership and become increasingly independent.

During your first year, our goal is for you to develop from someone learning the business into someone we trust to take meaningful ownership of bridge transactions.

We want you to become capable of looking at a deal and understanding:

Does this transaction make sense?

Is the collateral strong enough?

Is our leverage appropriate?

Is the exit strategy realistic?

What are we missing?

What could go wrong?

What needs to happen to get this closed?

And after we close it, what needs to happen to make sure AFC gets paid back?

As you demonstrate that you can handle more, you'll get more.

CAREER GROWTH

This is one of the biggest reasons we're excited about this position.

You are the first dedicated hire in AFC's bridge lending business.

A potential path could look like:

Investment Analyst | Years 0–1

Learn the entire business. Work across underwriting, processing, origination and servicing.

Senior Investment Analyst | Years 1–3

Take greater ownership of transactions from initial review through payoff. Handle more complex deals and help train future hires.

Underwriter / Portfolio Manager / Servicing Manager

Develop deeper expertise and take ownership of a major part of the bridge platform.

Bridge Loan Officer

If your strengths are sales and relationships, move toward originating and structuring your own bridge transactions.

Bridge Operations Leadership

If your strengths are operations and leadership, help build and eventually manage the team supporting the bridge business.

OUR CULTURE: WE WANT OUR PEOPLE TO GROW

We want ambitious people around us.

We want people who want to become better at their jobs, take on more responsibility, earn more money and build something for themselves.

Real estate is a big part of that culture.

AFC operates alongside Lantern Point , our real estate investment and management business. We're constantly around real estate—financing it, analyzing it, buying it, managing it and talking about it.

And we encourage our team to become owners themselves.

Two of our loan officers recently purchased multifamily properties of their own to live in while beginning to build their real estate portfolios.

We want more stories like that.

If you eventually want to own real estate yourself, you'll spend every day around people discussing:

Properties. Financing. Leverage. Cash flow. Acquisitions. Investing.

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR

This role is designed for someone early in their career who is smart, hungry, organized, analytical and interested in real estate.

A finance background is preferred, but not required .

We're more interested in finding the right person than the perfect resume.

You may be a great fit if:

• You're early in your career and want to learn quickly
• You have a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• You have an interest in finance, real estate, investing or entrepreneurship
• You're comfortable with numbers
• You're willing to become excellent with Excel or Google Sheets
• You're highly organized
• You pay attention to details
• You're a clear writer
• You're comfortable communicating on the phone
• You follow up until something is actually finished
• You ask questions when you don't understand something
• You take ownership instead of waiting to be told what to do
• You want responsibility early
• You want your career to grow based on what you can handle

Finance, accounting, economics, business or real estate coursework is helpful.

Internships in finance, banking, lending, accounting or real estate are helpful.

Neither is required.

Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University students and recent graduates: we're right in your backyard, and we'd especially like to meet you.

HOW TO APPLY

Email View email address on click.appcast.io with:

• Your resume
• Your school and graduation date, if applicable
• A required one-minute video

Subject Line: Investment Analyst – Your Name – Your School

THE ONE-MINUTE VIDEO

In about one minute, tell us:

1. Who you are
2. Why real estate and bridge lending interest you
3. Why you think you'd be a good fit for AFC