All Forum Posts by: Aidan Mosher

Do you have approved plans yet? That process alone usually takes around 3 months in Austin. You might as well get it approved first then see where we're at. 

As far as actual construction goes, it's a very mixed bag right now in terms of what subcontractors feel comfortable working. A lot of them do not want to be on job sites right now. Check in with all of your contacts, and if your contractors are ready to work then you should be fine.

I wouldn't say that 65% is the new norm for Hard Money, but the private money world is definitely tightening up. It's a supply and demand issue. Hard Money lenders have raised borrower equity requirements due to a shortage of available capital. The buyers of HM notes on the secondary markets have been disappearing at an alarming rate. The buying of these notes is what creates the liquidity that all lenders rely on to originate loans.

When the capital markets that fuel this industry freeze, there is just not enough money to continue business as usual. If a lender generally has $10mm/month to put to work and they suddenly have $2mm, they have to use that money very carefully. 

I lend on rehab, new construction, and spec builds in Austin and San Antonio so I have been watching the Hard Money options very closely. You can definitely expect this conservative approach to continue for a while. Now is the time to get creative with deal structure. If you want to bring less cash to closing, try getting your seller to take a second lien behind your lender and get paid at the end. If you have a motivated seller then they will be happy to close a deal in this market. Even if they have to wait for some of their money.

As a lender, I have to push back on this. Lenders are not price-gouging, they are working with what they have. It is simply a supply and demand issue. HM rates have increased for the exact same reason conventional and government backed rates rose after the initial refi boom last month.

Purchasing of mortgage-backed securities has dropped dramatically. In that same vein, the buyers of HM notes on the secondary markets have disappeared at a much more alarming rate. The buying of these notes is what creates the liquidity that all lenders rely on to originate loans. 

When the capital markets that fuel this industry freeze, there is just not enough money to continue business as usual and definitely not enough to cut rates. The opposite must happen: There is no new money coming in so you have to work with whatever you have.

If a lender generally has $10mm/month to put to work and they suddenly have $2mm, then they have to charge more for that money. As we've already seen in Austin with businesses rapidly shutting their doors forever, businesses simply can't survive on a fraction of their revenue for an extended period of time.

I have a good friend who owns a top notch brokerage in Denver. He also does some small scale development of his own and would be a great resource for you. Feel free to message me if you'd like me to make the connection! 

This doesn't come without an ulterior motive though. If you end up doing any business together, I do require a referral fee paid in Co Beer.

The advantage of hard money is that you are going to use a lot less of your own capital since hard money lends off the ARV of the property. Conventional money is much cheaper, but you will put 10-20% down on the purchase, then use your own funds for the rehab. The decision there is purely how liquid you want to stay.

There are definitely a lot of new units going up, but that can work to your advantage. The Railyard Condos was one of the oldest condo complexes in town and it just sold for $104mm. Even with all of the new luxury units in downtown, there is a serious shortage of housing in Austin. 

I would be happy to send you a very impressive presentation from an economic forecast I attended recently. It has a lot of data that would be of interest to you for both this and other reasons.

I'm going to have to disagree with the East and West Coaster's on this one Dylan. If you can find a condo in downtown with that kind of equity then you need to hold on to it. There is far too much potential in downtown Austin for you to flip this for mediocre profit. Even if you're just covering your mortgage (which you definitely are) than I would absolutely recommend holding. 

Regarding how you should finance it, hard money + refi into conventional will definitely help you keep the most cash in your pocket. If that's the goal.

I would be happy to send a few recommendations your way Keyanna. Would just need a little information. Sent you a colleague request. I lend on flips and spec builds her in Austin so I have a long list of potential buyers for you as well.

Ask Mortgage Pros are very solid. Working with investors to take out bridge loans is the bulk of their work. Based in Houston, but spend a lot of time in the market. I have sent many of my borrowers their way. rnunez@askmortgagepros

There is a great grassroots organization here in Austin called AURA. They focus on advocating for improved land use and transportation through policy analysis, public involvement, and political engagement. As soo as the new code draft was released they spent the entire weekend analyzing and commenting on the draft. You can find their high level takeaways in the link below.  

https://aura-atx.org/land-deve...

Thanks for the info David! I'd be happy to get on your mailing list as well if you have one for these.