All Forum Posts by: Spencer Wayne Whitley Jr.

Hey @Spencer Wayne Whitley Jr. - I was in a VERY similar situation here in Chicago, but I had less experience working on my own than you.

I had a piece of land that I owned free and clear, but since I didn't have any development experience, most of the banks wouldn't talk to me.  My advice is to keep trying because all it took was to find the right smaller bank willing to take a chance on me.  Using a smaller bank or credit union is the way to go.

Being that you have been in business for 10 years I am VERY surprised your business banker can't help you!

The other option is to find a partner with some experience and use that on the loan.

I’d talk to some other lenders. The fact that you have built custom homes together with your general construction experience should be enough. My partner (a GC) and I built two spec homes over the past year. We had no experience building a house from scratch but I did have a bank willing to lend to us. We ultimately went with a private lender because it was easier.

Reach out to Vincent Demarco at I Fund Cities. They specialize in funding spec build/new construction. He's in Charleston but lends throughout the Carolinas. DM me if you want me to put you in touch with him

I know exactly what is happening with the push-back you're getting. Basically, the money used in this type of financing comes from "Wall Street". I remember when Lending Home, now Kiavi started, there really wasn't anyone other than banks and private individuals that would finance a new build...and those were hard to find. The people that run these companies usually come from an "investment banking", real estate, or construction background. Many don't come from traditional lending sources. The institutional firms that do this type of lending (we deal with them every day) have to "securitize" the loans...meaning have their hedge fund/Wall Street backer bless the deal. These people often don't understand lending and have a checklist of boxes to check. Having an experienced GC build their first deal or two of their own is, for reasons that sometimes don't make sense, get push-back. We do them, but like you we often get push-back from the capital-provider funds. It's stupid, but we have to navigate it. I'm glad you shared this.