Kiavi is one of the nation’s largest private lenders to residential real estate investors (REIs). We harness the power of data & technology to offer our customers a simpler, more reliable, and faster way to access the capital they need to scale their businesses.
Formerly known as LendingHome, we’re committed to helping REIs revitalize the approximately $25 trillion worth of aged U.S. housing stock to provide move-in ready homes and rental housing for millions of Americans across the country.
Combining our technology and industry expertise, Kiavi has grown to a team of over 500 and has won many awards over the years including Forbes Fintech 50, Finovate Awards, Best Digital Mortgage Platform, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, and many more.
- Loans Funded: $30 billion in loans funded
- Homes financed: 100,000+ projects funded for our customers across the country
- Geography: 49 states + D.C. where we lend to REIs so they can revitalize neighborhoods
- Employees: Over 500 employees with competitive benefits and perks
This position can be based remotely in any of our approved hiring regions. Our hybrid distributed workforce philosophy allows us to find the best talent in the country and build diverse teams, while allowing our colleagues to work from the location that works best for them.
Identity Verification Notice: To ensure the security and integrity of our hiring process, all candidates are required to complete a secure identity verification. This process uses biometric and device validation to confirm identity and liveness. All data is handled securely in accordance with our privacy policy.
The Role
The Construction Lending Underwriter is responsible for evaluating, analyzing, and underwriting residential real estate construction loan applications to assess risk, determine creditworthiness, and ensure compliance with internal policies, regulatory requirements, and sound lending practices. This role is critical in managing the construction portfolio's risk exposure while supporting growth objectives.
Responsibilities
- Underwriting & Analysis:
- Perform financial analysis of borrowers and guarantors, including review of real estate schedules, financial statements, cash flow, and credit reports to assess financial stability and repayment capacity.
- Evaluate the proposed construction project's feasibility, including market analysis, cost projections, budget review, construction schedule, and comparable property sales/leasing data.
- Analyze and assess the experience and track record of the project team (developer, general contractor, and key subcontractors).
- Risk Assessment & Structure:
- Determine appropriate loan structure, terms, and conditions, including loan-to-cost/value ratios, interest reserves, to mitigate identified risks.
- Review and incorporate internal and third-party reports, such as appraisals, environmental reports, engineering reports, and feasibility studies, into the credit analysis.
- Identify and clearly articulate key risks and mitigating factors in a detailed credit memorandum.
- Documentation & Compliance:
- Ensure all underwriting activities comply with internal credit policies, and loan procedures.
- Work with legal counsel, and closing teams to finalize loan documentation and ensure all pre-closing conditions are met.
- Review and recommend Borrower, Guarantor and Sponsor credit exposure requests are accurate and comply with department and company credit policies and procedures.
- Collaboration & Communication:
- Collaborate effectively with Builder Loan Officers, Builder Relationship Specialists and external parties (e.g., borrowers, brokers, appraisers).
- Communicate lending decisions and any required conditions to stakeholders in a professional and timely manner.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business Administration, Accounting, Economics, Real Estate, or a related field.
- 3+ years of experience in real estate underwriting, with a specific focus on construction lending.
- In-depth knowledge of construction lending fundamentals, processes, terminology, and risk management best practices.
- Strong proficiency in analyzing complex business and personal financial statements and real estate schedules, and entity structures for sponsor and guarantor credit analysis.
- Excellent analytical, critical thinking, and decision-making skills.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex financial concepts clearly and effectively.
- Proficiency in Google Workspace, Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and relevant loan origination/underwriting software.
Kiavi takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. Your recruiter can share more about the specific base pay range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Please note that the pay range listed reflects the base salary only, and does not include the target value of bonus or benefits.
may be modified in the future.
Region 1 - $85,100-$120,000 + 5% annual bonus + benefits
Region 2 - $77,800-$110,000 + 5% annual bonus + benefits
Region 3 - $71,900-$100,000 + 5% annual bonus + benefits
To find a location’s tier, please refer to https://kiavi.com/compensation. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries. Within the range, the successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. Your recruiter can share more about the specific base pay range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Please note that the pay range listed above reflects the base salary only, and does not include the target value benefits.
Benefits and Perks
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance: Kiavi offers free employee-only coverage for medical, dental, and vision plans. Dependents receive a heavily discounted premium, competitively placed in the 90th percentile for cost.
- Health Savings Account (HSA): For those enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), Kiavi provides an annual employer contribution to HSAs: $1,000 for individual coverage and $2,000 for dependents.
- Disability and Life Insurance: Immediate access to short-term and long-term disability insurance, as well as group life and AD&D insurance, with coverage at 1x annual salary.
- Remote Work Policy: Kiavi supports working remotely for day to day activities for most roles and occasionally may ask employees to gather in person for key meetings, training, team building etc. For remote workers, Kiavi offers a one-time office setup reimbursement of up to $500 and a monthly $85 stipend for internet and phone expenses. For in-office workers, Kiavi offers employer contributions to commuter benefits account, either for parking or public transportation.
- Flexible Time Off: Employees are empowered to manage their own time off, with no strict limits, as long as it's approved by their manager.
- Paid Leaves: Up to 8 weeks of paid leave for medical or caregiver purposes, and 12 weeks of paid maternity/paternity leave. Short-term disability leave is also available for birthing mothers.
- 401(k) & Company Match: A 401(k) plan managed by Fidelity, with Kiavi matching 100% of contributions up to 3% of compensation or $8,000 (whichever is less). All employer contributions are immediately vested.
Protect yourself from recruitment scams:
- If you are offered an interview or a role with Kiavi, this will be communicated with you through email, via an official email address ending in @kiavi.com or @lendinghome.com.
- You will never be asked for payments of any kind during the process.
- We also never communicate with candidates via Whatsapp at any point during the recruitment process.
- We won’t ask for personal information or data via text message. If you have any concerns regarding how genuine a text message is, please contact your recruiter.
- You can find our official Kiavi careers page here. We advise you to check that the page details and website addresses match if you have any concerns.
