Trying to get investor to cosign a loan

[Michael B.]

I am trying to find investor to cosign a loan for a $340,000 property. I am an experenced manager of a restaruant with 17 years exp. I have looked at many leases and they do not fit. I found a 2nd generation restaruant property and willing to pay everthing including the 25% deposit but do not have any collateral to appease the bank. How do i find investor wiling to cosign with enough capital?. I am willing to pay cosigner the same i pay for mortgage.

[Bill Gulley]

Sounds like you have the expertise to run the business, but you know how resturants live and die. Who ever is selling the business should also be aware of the financing crunch which makes it a hard business to off load to anyone. There are very few cash buyers, so IMO, the seller needs to face reality if they really want to sell.

If you have 25% as a down payment, the seller should seriously consider seller financing. What he actually has might be RE, but the blue sky in the business is very hard to justify.

His product will not be same as another's product no matter what he thinks. His food, service and name is not something that is really bankable for a new owner. Your problem will be how to improve what the last guy did. You might also partner your way into the deal with the current owner, seller financing can be very creative on how the relationships are structured.

If you have good credit and an income, you should be able to obtain a 70% loan on the real estate alone, but I doubt you will get much at all on equipment....used rest. equip. is almost 10 cents on the dollar.

Another aspect might be finding another resturant owner and partner with them. You use him as an investor to the extent that you can live with with the option to buy them out later on. Depends on how bad you want the place and what you're willing to give up.

Those are the two most popular ways for a resturant to change hands, IMO. There are few outside investors who will take on a resturant as just a lending investor, it will most likely be a partnership deal and that investor needs similar experience in this arena. Good luck