Grant Help

[Joseph King]

Good evening, I am wondering are there any grants out there for small business start ups, multifamily investing and yes i hate to pull this card, but if its there why no but minorities. If so could you point me in the right direction, I haven't been able to find anything on grants.gov. These funds would be used for down payments and purchase of multifamily and apartments.

[Diane Trotter]

I grew up in the Central High School Historic District in Little Rock.  There are grants for people who are first time homebuyers and possible residents of the revitalization zones.  I don't know if a multifamily dwelling would qualify because the tenants are not stakeholders and usually move on rather than invest in the community.

If you purchase a historic building, you can get a grant to restore it but you are limited in what you can do to it and with it.

[Julie Macd]

You could try checking with the city or county. Any funds available would most likely be geared towards low income housing. You could try to find a grant or low money down loan and house hack your first property to get up and running.

[Charlotte Moore]

Hi @Joseph King. I’m unaware of any grants, but you may want to look into Private Money Lending (not Hard Money). There are some PML organizations, such as Christian, Catholic and other religious based organizations, whose mission is to help minorities and first time homeowners to get into homeownership and real estate. A PML can lend you the money for the down payment or the full value for the purchase and any repairs needed. I cannot give you any referrals, but with some research on your part, I'm sure you will find sources. You may also want to pose this question in a PLM forum.

[Joseph King]

@Diane Trotter @Julie Macd  @Charlotte Moore Thank you ladies, I have 1 more question (might sound dumb). If I set up an LLC for my properties to go under would this be considered a small business? I'll be honest I'm not to keen on what all LLC's do for you except protect your personal assets.

[Charlotte Moore]

That's about right. Watch this video from BP on YouTude - https://youtu.be/krf5yFIOLQ8.

[Diane Trotter]

I am not an attorney. I do know that there is a minimum tax that corporations have to pay to make sure that you are not trying to avoid paying taxes. The fact that it is a limited liability corp might also cause others to not want to do business with you. Everyone knows the purpose of the LLC. I'm trying to think of the name of the HUD website that explains the pathway for a first time buyer as well as possibilities for investors. HUD has loans that cover the cost of rehabilitation and only require 3% down.

Looking for grants might take a while. With HUD, $3K plus closing down should get you a property that could cover purchase and rehab. If you have a credit card that has 0% interest for a year, that is less hassle than meeting requirements for a grant.