FHA 203(f) Multifamily loans

[Kevin Vandenboss]

I'm preparing a listing for a 140 unit multifamily property in Michigan that currently has an FHA 203(f) loan in place with a balance of roughly $7,745,000 and an asking price of $12,500,000. Since this property has only been refinanced with this FHA loan for 2 years the prepayment penalty is at 8%, so this deal will have to be done by assuming the current loan. There's also no secondary financing allowed so a buyer would have to come to the table with almost $5 million cash. However, I'm wondering if a buyer could assume and refinance for a higher amount to avoid both having a prepayment penalty and getting the down payment to 20% - 30%. It would also be beneficial for the deal if the term could be stretched back out to 30-35 years.

So, I'm wondering if a buyer can assume the current mortgage of $7,745,000 and refinance for $8,750,000 - $10,000,000.