Wedding venue investment

[Katrina Kubicina]

Hi! 1st time poster and new follower of biggerpockets thanks to my little brother raving about it all the time. My husband and I are wedding photographers and it has always been our dream to own a venue. We just stumbled upon the venue of a lifetime and are in love with it. Its 2 million dollars. We do pretty well, but not that well! Anyone have advice on how to finance something this big or finding an investor to help us get the venue?! I know once we have it we will be making $ back quickly. We just need to get it! Thanks!

[Evan Polaski]

@Katrina Kubicina, clearly this is a very unique situation, but I will say the first rule of business and real estate is don't fall in love anything.  Bringing in a business partner could work, exploring owner financing, SBA loans, women owned business grants, commercial real estate loans, are all possible sources of capital to explore.

Are large gatherings allowed currently in your area?  What is the food situation?  Are you providing catering and have a way to obtain any licensure for that service?  

Honestly, I would approach the owner to see if you are able to LEASE the space for the next few years.  If you end up hating running the business, you are not also stuck owning niche use real estate.  You can also negotiate a purchase option within the lease, so that you don't loose out on the real estate if owner got to a point where he needed to sell.