Wedding Barn Opportunity

[Mitchell Van Overloop]

My wife and I own a nice cash flowing duplex and are currently in a live in flip. We are looking at buying a wedding barn venue that has had a steady flow of around 25 weddings the last 5 years. Currently the barn pulls in $4,000 per wedding. The property comes with 5 acres and a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom house and has an estimated value at $400,000 from 4 different realtors opinions. The seller wants another $150,000 for the business which I see as a pretty reasonable price considering the income the property would turn over every year. A big problem with this however is that the mortgage company will only lend on the $400,000 property value which still leaves $150,000 on the table. 

My question is whether or not we should sell our duplex and house in order to make the deal work. The duplex has over $85,000 in equity and the house has around $90,000 in equity which would cover our down payment as well as the cash needed for the business purchase. I am wondering though if we can keep the duplex somehow by getting private money and what that would look like. The duplex rents for $1,000 and $1075 and the mortgage payment is $1050 per month. What do you all think would be the better route to go?

[Mitchell Van Overloop]

We did end up purchasing and love it! The business was purchased partially and we are paying the remaining $30k off this year. We have plans to add a bridal suite/changing area for pretty cheap which should add a ton of value to our bride and groom. We also are trying to manage rescheduling a few of the weddings we had planned this spring and early summer with COVID, but so far everyone has just rescheduled and not cancelled. But otherwise everything went well in regards to getting the property and selling our real estate.

@David S.