Solo 401k loan....pros/cons, compared to hard money

[Andrew James]

Anyone have any thoughts on a loan to myself from a Solo 401K plan?  As I sit here thinking about creative ways to fund a deal, including hard money, I have come across the idea of a Solo 401K plan and loaning to myself from the plan.

Key facts that I can find are: 5-year term (normal prin+interest payments required at least quarterly), Larger of $50K or 50% of vested balance is the max loan, no credit check or specificity required about intended use of funds, failure to make payments/payoff on time are that plan treats it as a taxable distribution (early in my case), can loan at a reasonable interest rate which sounds like can be a prime+ type rate.....last WSJ prime was 3/22/18 at 4.75%. Add 2% and you're borrowing at 6.75%.....no HML will touch that given my newbie status. That's a quarterly payment of $2,400 approx. for the quarters I owe the loan, with remaining principal repaid on sale of property.

I'm sure there are downsides, I just can't think of them when compared to hard money.