All Forum Posts by: Wendy Usrey

Quote from @Wendy Usrey:

Quote from @Jack Mawer:

Sounds like a super cool opportunity but can definitely see financing being tough to come by - curious if there are lenders in the US that offer out of country financing 

Haven’t found any yet (that aren’t scams anyway).  This will probably take a private l US lender or lender that understands mexico and is willing to invest.  

Quote from @Jack Mawer:

Sounds like a super cool opportunity but can definitely see financing being tough to come by - curious if there are lenders in the US that offer out of country financing 

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Wendy Usrey

Do you have any us based collateral that could be used ?

Not for a project of this size.  Our main focus is Mexico and this will be our largest project to date.  The only option would be to somehow define that the collateral is the “shares” in the Mexican corporation that owns the property which would allow the lender to take over in the event of default.  

Quote from @Dave McIntyre:

Hi Wendy,

One option that might work could be to get unsecured funding. It's out there and available from lenders who don't have as strict criteria as conventional banks.

Best,

Dave

Any tips on who to contact for this?  I haven’t been able to find any yet (at least not on a large scale).  Definitely open to considering it though.  The lenders would need to be willing to use the income from the property to qualify us though (our US LLCs have no other assets- they’re strictly for the real estate in Mexico). 

Quote from @Frank Greg:

@Mike Lambert:

The exception of course are global financial institutions who do business in multiple countries and diversify their risk by lending in other countries. Different countries pose different challenges, have different legal systems, cultures, ownership structures, economic and political risk profiles.

Do you know of any global financial institutions that would loan on a project like this?  So far I haven’t been able to find any that will.  

Quote from @Caroline Gerardo:

Santander Mexico Bank would be a place to start

 Do they offer loans to temporary residents or foreigners?  We currently have our accounts with Intercam (we were told they were the only bank that would work with us since we opened the accounts prior to having temporary residency). We definitely are not opposed to switching banks, especially if they will help us with loans. 

Quote from @Henry Lazerow:

HELOC on us properties and use funds for mexico.

Not really an option unfortunately.  We need $10m in funding as it’s a large project and don’t have the ability to raise that much out of HELOCs.  

Well this discussion seems to have taken a wrong turn.  This probably isn’t the place to split hairs. I think sometimes we get too hung up on a specific choice of words and miss the bigger picture.  I appreciate the insights, but of course don’t expect anyone to have the perfect right answer (unless of course they themselves are the investor willing to loan the funds for our project). The biggest issue we have faced is that Mexican banks (or Mexican branches of international banks) will not loan to us on commercial or multi-use projects, they also won’t loan for new construction.  It seems the only way for a foreigner or temporary resident to get funding from a bank in Mexico is to purchase a residential property that is completed.   I have not talked with anyone there that would even discuss commerical loans for foreigners or temporary residents.  There are ways to ensure a lender has access to the property as collateral but most won’t even begin the discussion.  It’s been frustrating indeed.  There is so much potential in this market, especially with the new train system and airport in Tulum, but I don’t think mainstream lending has caught on yet.   I appreciate everyone who has offered input and/or reached out directly.  I am traveling so haven’t had reliable access to connect but will be responding to everyone’s message as soon as I can.  

@Frank Greg:

We own three properties in Tulum, Mexico and would like to expand our investments there, but are having a very hard time finding funding. My husband and I have temporary residency in Mexico, and our rentals are all owned inside a Mexican corporation (S DE RL DE CV). We have LLCs in the US so can use a lender here if they're willing to lend for a project in Tulum, Mexico, but would also love to connect with Mexican lenders to establish a relationship. Currently we have two projects we need to quickly find funding for- 1 is a beach resort we intend to convert into luxury STR and the other is a multi-use building in town w/ STR units and commercial retail space. Do you have any ideas for who we could contact that would be willing to work with us? I would really appreciate any help you can provide. We would prefer debt financing as we plan to hold the resort long-term, but are open to other arrangements too.