Contractor Financing Guide · Awareness

How to Offer Financing as a Contractor

By the Hearth team · Last updated: July 2026

TL;DR

The short answer

To offer financing, you don't become a lender — you partner with a platform that connects your customers to loans. The setup is: (1) choose a pricing model (flat subscription vs per-transaction fees), (2) sign up and brand your financing page, (3) put a payment option on every quote, not just when asked. Most contractors are quoting monthly payments within their first week.

Step 1 — Pick your model

The industry splits into three approaches. Marketplace subscriptions (Hearth: $2,000–6,000/yr typical depending on level of service, no per-loan fee, 18 lenders) suit contractors who finance regularly and want predictable overhead. Per-transaction platforms (fees commonly 3.9%+ per financed job) suit occasional financers. Captive dealer programs (single lender, dealer fees that scale with promotional APRs) are common in HVAC/solar but concentrate risk in one underwriter's appetite.

Step 2 — Set up the pipes

Modern platforms are self-serve: create the account, add your logo and business details, and you get a personal financing link and QR code. Put the link everywhere a price appears — quotes, invoices, your website, even yard signs. With Hearth, homeowners who click see personalized offers in about 60 seconds via a soft credit pull.

Step 3 — Change the sales conversation

The contractors who get ROI from financing present the monthly payment proactively on every bid — not as a rescue move after sticker shock. Two practical habits: quote the project as both a total and a payment ('$14,800, or around $210/mo for qualified buyers'), and present good-better-best options where the upgrade is framed as dollars-per-month, not thousands more.

What to avoid

Don't quietly mark bids up to bury a dealer fee — homeowners comparison-shop, and inflated bids lose. Don't gate financing behind 'do you need it?' — it reads as a credit judgment and suppresses uptake. And don't judge the program on one month; financing changes close rates over a sales cycle, not a weekend.

FAQ

How long does setup take?

Self-serve platforms take minutes to hours. Practically, most contractors send their first financed quote within the first week.

Do I need to be licensed to offer financing?

With marketplace platforms the lender makes the loan, not you. That's what keeps the contractor out of the lending-license business. (Platform terms and state specifics vary — check your platform's compliance docs.)

Should I bring it up or wait to be asked?

Bring it up. Homeowners who need financing often won't ask, and homeowners who don't need it aren't offended by a payment option on the quote.

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Keep reading: What is contractor financing? Fees explained 2026 company guide