Creative Financing for Commercial Real Estate

[Florence Crosby]

Is taking over the LLC a good, safe or viable option for purchasing a commercial property?

[Ronald Isgate]

Couple things you have to worry about if you purchase an existing LLC membership interest (i.e. you purchase the membership interest in the LLC rather than the asset) - is that you inherit any liabilities that the LLC may have - this can range from taxes to a person who slipped and fell 6 mos ago and is just about to sue the owner. That is one of the catches when purchasing an existing llc. Plus, if there is already financing on the property, many times there are provisions in the loan docs that state if there is a transfer of 50% or more of the company interests, it triggers a call on the loan.

It is a possibility, but there are alot of entanglements you must go through to ensure you don't walk into a hornets nest.