Loan Sizing Constraint Solver
Runs every sizing test side by side and tells you which one caps the loan
Install it in one line — paste a single command into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and it writes the skill into your project.
Free, and about thirty seconds: a work email and a six-digit code.
Downloading shares your name, firm, role, and email with The Helvetica Group. That introduction is what keeps every skill here free.
What this skill does
Answers "how much can we lend, and what's in the way?" on any deal. Runs every test your program uses — value, cost, after-repair value, rent coverage, debt yield and program limits — side by side, names the one that sets the loan amount, shows the math, and works out what would have to change to reach the amount the borrower asked for.
What it does
- Calculates the maximum loan under each test and shows the formula behind every number
- Names the test that limits the loan and how far each of the others is from it
- Handles financed fees and interest reserves correctly, without guesswork
- Checks the borrower has enough cash to close at the maximum, and finds the smallest loan they can actually close
- Works backwards from the requested amount: the value, rent or cost that would support it
- Rounds down and re-checks every test at the final figure
When to use it
- A loan request arrives and you need a number fast
- The broker's requested amount doesn't fit and you need to explain why
- Preparing a counter-offer or term sheet
- Comparing how the same deal sizes under different programs
What to have ready
- Purchase price, current value and after-repair value as applicable
- Costs, rent or net operating income as applicable
- Rate and loan terms
- Your program's limits, and the requested amount if there is one
How to use it
- Download it with the button above. You'll sign in with a work email — that's how the creator knows who is using their skill.
- Copy the install prompt from the "Run it in Claude" box, and paste it into Claude along with the file. Claude installs the skill, fills in your firm's details where the file has
[BRACKETED]placeholders, and runs a quick test with you. - Then just ask in plain English. Claude picks the skill up on its own when a request matches it. Anything it still needs, it asks you for — it won't invent a number.
"Size [PROPERTY ADDRESS]: purchase [PRICE], rehab [BUDGET], ARV [ARV]. Our box is [LTV]% LTV, [LTC]% LTC, [ARV LTV]% of ARV. Borrower wants [AMOUNT] — what's the max and what's binding?"
What you get back
The maximum loan and the test that sets it, a side-by-side table of every test, the tests it couldn't run, the borrower's cash-to-close floor, the feasible loan range, and what would support the requested amount.
Good to know
- Output quality tracks input quality. A missing figure is flagged as missing — it is never estimated to fill a gap.
- Every draft is a starting point for your own review, not a finished decision.
- Runs anywhere Claude does: the Claude app, Claude Desktop, or Claude Code.
- It never assumes a limit you didn't give it — missing tests are listed, not guessed — and the result is an analysis for your credit decision, not a quote.
Legal disclaimer
This skill drafts; it does not decide. Its output is not legal, tax, accounting, appraisal, or investment advice, and using it creates no attorney-client, fiduciary, or advisory relationship. Nothing it produces is a commitment to lend or an offer to sell a security. Verify every number, date, citation, and conclusion against the source documents, and have a qualified professional licensed in the relevant jurisdiction review the work before you rely on it or send it to a borrower, investor, counterparty, or regulator. Laws, rates, and market data change. The final work product is yours.
Inside this skill
The actual file you get. Members can read it in full before saving it.
Loan Sizing Constraint Solver
Every private loan is sized by several tests at once — loan-to-value, loan-to-cost, loan-to-ARV, debt coverage, debt yield, a program maximum — and the answer is whichever is lowest. Most sizing mistakes are not arithmetic errors; they are a test that was skipped, a financed fee that pushed LTC over without anyone noticing, or a loan that fits every cap but leaves the borrower without the cash to close. This skill runs every test side by side, names the one that binds, shows the gap to each, and reverse-solves what would have to change to reach the amount the borrower asked for.
Works across products: bridge, fix-and-flip, ground-up construction, DSCR rental, land, and small-balance commercial. It is the product-neutral math engine. For a fix-and-flip go / no-go with borrower profit and experience tiers, fix-and-flip-deal-sizer goes further; for a full commercial policy screen, loan-request-screening-and-sizing does. Use this one when the question is simply "how much, and what's in the way."
Step 1 — Intake
| Input | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Product and purpose | ✅ | Purchase, refinance, cash-out; bridge, rehab, construction, DSCR, commercial |
| Value inputs | ✅ | Purchase price, as-is value, ARV or as-stabilized value — each with its source |
| Cost inputs | For LTC | Purchase or land basis, rehab or construction budget, financed soft costs |
| Income inputs | For DSCR / debt yield | Qualifying rent or NOI, taxes, insurance, HOA; which DSCR convention the program uses |
| Rate, amortization, IO period | For DSCR | And whether the program qualifies on the IO or amortizing payment |
| Program limits | ✅ | Every cap that applies. If a limit is not given, the test is skipped and the output says so — never assume one |
| Fees and reserves | Helpful | Points, interest reserve, and whether they are financed into the loan |
| Verified liquidity | Helpful | For the liquidity floor (Step 4) |
| Requested loan amount | Helpful | For the gap and reverse-solve (Step 5) |
Minimum viable: one value, the program's caps, and — for income tests — the rate and income.
Step 2 — Compute the cap under every test
| Test | Formula for the maximum loan |
|---|---|
| As-is LTV | LTV% × as-is value (purchases: often the lesser of price and as-is value) |
Reading the full skill counts as a download. The contributor receives your name, company, and email.
Ratings & reviews
No written reviews yet. If you run this on a live file, say how it went. The next lender reading this page is deciding whether to trust it.
Examination record
Run it in Claude
- Copy the install command above
- Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
- It writes the skill in, fills in your firm’s details, and test-runs it with you
Prefer the file? The prompt above is for a package you already downloaded.
Details
More from The Helvetica Group
They publish here under a verified work email. Their other skills, and how to reach them, are on their contributor page.