This guide is for an HVAC contractor selling $8,000 to $14,000 replacements to homeowners who did not plan to spend that this month. Financing turns the ticket into a monthly payment, and that is the number the homeowner compares against a repair. The $300 to $800 repair rarely needs it, and a $300 ticket sits below the minimum loan at some lenders.
What financing costs you depends on the fee model. Some lenders charge the contractor a dealer fee, a percentage of the financed amount that rises with the promotion. One charges a flat merchant fee. One charges a subscription and no dealer fee at all. The steps below explain the difference using published numbers and say where you will have to ask.
Learn the difference between a dealer fee and a flat merchant fee
A dealer fee is what the lender charges you, the contractor, on each financed job. It is a percentage of the amount financed, and it depends on the promotion you offer the homeowner: a standard-rate loan carries a low fee, and a long 0% promotion carries a high one. GreenSky publishes dealer fees from 0.99% to 15%. Other dealer-based lenders quote the fee per merchant and publish nothing. A flat merchant fee works the same way with far fewer tiers. Wisetack charges 3.9% on standard loans and 5.5% on 24-month 0% promotions, with loans from $500 to $25,000. The drawback of both models: the fee is yours. The homeowner sees “0% financing” and you see up to 15% leave the margin on a $10,000 install unless the price already includes it.
Price the fee into the job before you offer the promotion
Work the arithmetic on a $10,000 replacement, the middle of the $8,000 to $14,000 range. At Wisetack’s 3.9% flat fee the lender keeps $390. On its 24-month 0% promotion at 5.5%, $550. At GreenSky’s published floor of 0.99%, $99; at its 15% ceiling, $1,500. Decide which promotions you will offer, then build the fee into the price of every replacement option. Ask each lender whether its agreement allows a separate cash price, since many do not. The drawback: your sticker price goes up for cash buyers too. A standard-rate loan at the low end of the fee range is usually the better default, with the 0% promotion held for the top option where the margin can carry it.
Consider a subscription with no dealer fee
Hearth takes a different approach. You pay $1,499 a year for the Essentials plan plus $99 setup, about $125 a month, and there are no dealer fees. The homeowner applies through a multi-lender marketplace and the loan carries the homeowner’s own rate. On a $10,000 install, a 3.9% flat fee is $390, so Hearth’s annual price is covered after four financed jobs at that rate. The drawback: with no dealer fee there is no subsidized 0% promotion to advertise, and a loan at the homeowner’s rate is a harder sell against a competitor’s 0% offer. Hearth integrates with QuickBooks and with none of the dispatch platforms listed on this page. Count your financed jobs per year before choosing the subscription.
Match the lender to your ticket size and software
A $300 repair sits below Wisetack’s $500 minimum and is rarely worth financing anyway. A $14,000 replacement sits inside its $25,000 ceiling. Check the loan range against your real tickets, including the top option with add-ons. Then check integration. Wisetack lists 17 or more operations software integrations, including Jobber, Housecall Pro and Workiz, so the application lives inside the estimate the tech already shows. Synchrony Home is card-based consumer financing widely used by HVAC dealers, with no software integration listed. GreenSky and the other dealer-based lenders list none either. The drawback of a lender without integration: the tech leaves the estimate screen, opens a separate application, and the homeowner has a minute to reconsider. The listing page carries no approval rates, so ask each lender for its rate in your market.
Put a monthly payment on every replacement quote
Financing only works if every tech offers it on every replacement, including to the homeowner who looks like a cash buyer. Print the monthly payment next to the total on each option. Train the tech to lead with the payment, and to run the application in the home while the quote is open. Start before the first heat wave, since demand peaks then and again in the first cold snap, and a tech learning a new application flow during the rush will skip it. The drawback: a declined application in the kitchen is awkward, and a lender with a low approval rate costs you jobs you would have sold for cash. Track approvals, declines and close rate per lender for 90 days, then keep the one that books the most systems.
The full list of agencies and tools for this is at HVAC contractors: finance jobs.