Mortgage assumption for large multifamily...Worth it?

[Daniel Brown]

I have a deal that I'm looking at that has a $10M non-recourse assumable loan with a mid 4% interest rate for 20yr term.  I normally look at just getting new financing at purchase, but wanted to consider this option to assume current loan to see if it would be worth it.  The current lender is an insurance company, and I'm not sure how hard they are to deal with.  I do have the following questions:

1. With dealing with this type of lender are these loan terms usually locked in, or can they be re-negotiated by the buyer? (i.e. pre-payment penalty percentage, length of term remaining, interest rate, etc.)

2. With the assumption of the existing loan, the lender is wanting 30%-35% equity. Is the difference between the current loan balance and the sale price minus the down payment wrapped into the old loan, or will we need to come up with the difference from investors?

The seller is offering a discount if we assume the current loan versus getting new financing.  At the end of the day, I just want to make sure that I am getting the best deal for investors.  Any advice or constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance,

Travis