1st Commercial Deal - Creative Financing - Advice Needed

[David Wales]

My partner and I are currently under contract for a piece of property in Charlotte NC that includes a single family home, two duplexes, two triplexes and an empty lot for $1,000,000.  I own a construction company and have established a 401k in which my partner and I's 401ks have been rolled into and the fund will invest in the property for the 30% downpayment.  We had conventional financing in progress but at the last minute bank noticed that this property has no rental history available (former housing by a local ministry for single mothers) and they wanted to see liquid assets in the range of $500k which we do not have.  We found another bank to fund the deal but have run into a similar situation but to a lesser amount and they want a guarantor with liquid assets in the $200-300k range.  Every person willing to do the deal as a guarantor has wanted a substantial amount in exchange, more than the deal can afford.  

An additional hiccup in the project is that we are currently in breach and at risk of losing $50k in earnest money because the first bank waited until the last minute and we passed our original closing date.  We have been attempting to get the contract extended but the owner will not sign until a bank provides a letter stating that they will fund the project.  The bank will not provide the letter without the aforementioned guarantor.  

We are looking for any advice or any recommendations on how to get the deal done or at least get our earnest money back.  We are currently scheduled to close on Feb 27th if we can get our funding in place.  


    

[Kase Knochenhauer]

@David Wales - oh man! You've got to get things moving! :)

First - check your contract, it's likely that you put a $50k EMD down that is contingent on financing even if you waived inspection or due diligence.

Second - make a bunch of phone calls today to local credit unions and small banks in your area. Someone will help you finance a property that doesn't require a history of rental income. Alternatively, start having some conversations with other local investors and bring them in as partners or hard money lenders. The down-side of commercial financing is that most appraisals will take at least 2-3 weeks to be returned (they are a lot slower than residential appraisals).