How do we secure a loan in St. Louis as a newly formed LLC?

[Thomas Julnes]

Hello there!

I'm having difficulty breaking through gatekeepers for loans and am looking for advice. Here are the details

• We (my brother and I) have a newly formed Series LLC (this year) with no assets tied to the LLC or any income
• We are looking to purchase a small multi-family (2-4 units) in the St. Louis area and are looking for homes between 225k and 375k (we can go slightly outside this range if it really makes sense)
• We have enough of our own capital for 25% down at the above range and then some for renovation/upgrade costs along with personal capital as reserves
• We have extensive aggregate analysis done on the St. Louis market using MLS data (I'm trained in applied statistics) and have case-by-case analysis tables that use very conservative estimates of how much we can cash flow on the property being analyze

In summary - I think we have our plan/criteria well thought out.

Here is the problem...

We are having trouble with banks even talking to us (e.g., Chase, Bank of America, local St. Louis credit unions) or hearing out our business plan. Typically, the conversation goes "how many years have you been in business and how much do you want." After expressing that we are newly formed, that the loan will depend on the home (200k to 300k loan), I get the "we'll call you back." To which I never hear anything back... These banks require 2 years of income / experience, so is the expectation your first deal should be 100% your own (or private) cash?

My hunch is that I just need to be persistent and pester people until I find someone willing to work with us. I do have a lead, but my leads are drying up. Having a full time job makes sourcing loan leads belabored, but I am willing to increase effort here.

What I want to know... 

Am I missing something? Is it natural for a newly formed LLC to have such difficulty securing a loan? Do I need to say a series of magic words to get that "yes, here is your loan." Any advice or questions would be welcome.