1st Timer Looking For Answers

1st Timer Looking For Answers

Contractor · Buford, GA · Member since 2017 · 1 post · 0 votes

Hey everyone! Excited to have found this site and podcast! I'm in North Atlanta and I'm a business owner (2 years). I live in the subs and there is a historical city a few miles from me. I know a guy who lives there in a tiny little 900 - 1000 sq ft house. The house is in poor condition needing new flooring, walls, insulation, windows, roof, ac installed (currently has no a/c), and landscaping. I'm friends with the city mayor and have been in meetings about the plans for development in the area. This lot is a great lot! I've got the workers to fix the house up (i'm in the home service business). I have excellent credit but since starting my business I don't have much savings and I make a fraction of what I used to make in software. 

This entire project will be under $100k. My plan is to turn it into a commercial building and rent out as an office being that it is on a main street with tons of traffic. I know they have a historic preservation commission and their are things to consider on commercial like handicap parking, access to restroom etc.. 

As a first timer, I've accessed the situation and I think the best possible solution is go commercial and rent out office space. I could flip it but this area will increase as they build it out and this is one of the best lots in the historic district. 

Here's the catch. My banker says they will give me a personal line of credit with quick turn no doc but only for $25k. I have a mortgage currently with about $100k equity in it but don't feel pulling out of my personal home is the best solution.  Plus I can't get enough even if I wanted to. 

My thought was the take the credit line, use a hard money loan to buy the home and fix it up then refi to a commercial loan using the $25k as a down payment. Do they make you put 20% down on a refi for a business loan? Probably should figure that out! 

I'm kind of piecing this thing together to make it work but I'm very confident in the finished product. My wife is on board which is usually the voice of reason when I get excited. I have the laborers and can turn it pretty quick but I need help finding the best way to get the funds. 

What would ya'll do?

Any advice is appreciated. 

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  • Investor · Mesa, AZ · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 7 votes
    9y

    While I don't know much about the commercial space, generally speaking for a re fi they will want you to sit on/own the property for at least six months if it isn't traditional lending with SFR properties. Perhaps the stipulations would be different with commercial. If you pulled out the HELOC would that be enough to do a hard money loan? Most of the time they want 20% down or more and the rates gouge the deal pretty hard.

    If the #s work with renting it out and covering the cost on the hard money and HELOC and you have the cash to get the property to a state where you can rent it, i would say it is worth the risk. Being your first BRRR property, estimating the numbers may be more difficult than originally planned.... Overall the deal seems a little more risky than I would be willing to do for my first investment especially when it comes to the remodel and market rents....

    If the #s work, and you are sure you can get someone in there... Get them using the 2% rule on the property.... Do it. 

  • Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2017 · 791 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    Just know it can take a very long time to find a tenant needing that space, especially in a smaller town. The amount of people looking for commercial spaces will be very limited. The timing of you having your space ready will have to coincide with just the right tenant, at just the right time, looking for that type of space.

    And if you find one and they move out, you can have an incredibly long vacancy again and wait for that perfect scenario above to happen again. You need to make sure you can weather the carrying costs of long vacancies.

    The flip side is if you get tenants, they are usually going to be very long term tenants. 

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