Large multifamily loan assumption - who has done it?

[Serge S.]

I'm very interested in buying a large multifamily with an assumable loan. I see deals on the market today that offer assumable loans but unfortunately the asking prices are so far from realistic that there is little to no chance of carrying the new debt without putting down very significant cash. I'd love to hear how people closed deals on large multi w assumable debt.

How much was the downpayment?

Was it FHA, small bank, large bank or private?

What did the terms look like?

@Brian Burke @Steve Olafson  I cannot imagine that you guys have not done such a deal, would love some input.

[Brian Burke]

I haven't done one.  @Steve Olafson is right, FNMA can sometimes be upsized and there is a possibility that you can get sellers to carry back some paper to get down payments to a reasonable level.  That just adds one more complexity to the deal, however, and in a competitive acquisition environment you probably wouldn't be picked as the buyer if you asked for the seller to carry unless the property was tough for the seller to sell such as a Class D with a flat roof.

For me, if I see an assumption deal I typically just kick it off my list which explains why I haven't done one.  Assumption deals are usually offered because the seller has yield maintenance and can't pay off the loan and it's too early to economically defease.  

I want the ability to put on my own debt so that I can structure it such that I can refi after doing a repositioning and capture proceeds to distribute back to my investors.  An assumption would probably work fine if the deal was a coupon clipper but I don't buy those.  It might also work if the maturity was short, such as in 2 or 3 years.  In that case I could refi out and take proceeds then, but this adds a lot of uncertainty and risk to the deal because if the repositioning doesn't go as planned or the economy or lending environment moves against me, there's big trouble that I'd rather not have.

On the other hand, if the assumption is not because of yield maintenance but because you want to assume it out of convenience or because it's such a great loan (and you can pay it off at any time) I suppose it's a good move.  I just don't see that as the case very often.