Financing first new build: hard money, private lending?

[Brandon K.]

Can I tap your expertise on a scenario? 

My wife and I own a single-family home outright in a desirable part of South Tampa for $150k, and have our sights set on doing a tear-down and new build with a $215k single family spec home by a reputable local builder. We own a home elsewhere and don't want to move: this would be a non-owner-occupied project with the intent to sell once completed. We know the area well: the property is currently a single family home that we rent out, and we follow the market closely. There are a number of other comparable infill projects in the neighborhood; using conservative estimates, the proposed new build should fetch $500-525k, leaving a large cushion in the project. The numbers work, but the question is obtaining the financing for the deal. Part of the issue is that, while we have extensive prior experience with multi-family investments and remodeling projects up to $80k, we have not done a prior new build. Thus the plan to use a known builder with tested models to mitigate risk and potentially allow us to replicate the process in the future. 

I've seen forum posts mentioning that one can use the value of the land as the collateral to obtain a construction loan--but I haven't found a lender who wants to do so on a non-owner-occupied build. 

I looked into hard money lenders, but it seems that many (all?) in the post-COVID world are looking for at least three prior builds within the past three years. This would be our first. Several have suggested taking on an equity partner, which is unattractive for obvious reasons. 

I've considered crowdfunding, but those all seem to be dominated by larger REITs and less tilted toward small operations. 

We do have about $150k in equity in a separate multi-family property, $140k equity in our private home, and about $40k in cash reserves. We have excellent credit. 

My preferred options:

1: Hard money or private lender: any recommendations for a lender willing to loan on a first new build, or for that mystical lender willing to issue a construction loan using the build site land as collateral? 

2: Some combination of HELOCs or similar on existing equity to finance the deal. I assume getting a HELOC on a rental property is more of a headache than on one's personal property.

3: Crowdfunding the funds through a site that is friendly to smaller "mom and pop" operations as opposed to groups with larger portfolios. 

Distant 4th: Moving across town for 6 months to a year into the new home after completion so that we can qualify for owner-occupied new construction loans. 

Distant 5th: Taking on equity partners, hitting up family and coworkers. Both of these seem like ways to make a straightforward deal exponentially more complicated. 

Any ideas? Thank you!

[Steve Kuptz]

Good Morning Brandon-

You did not mention what the Loan to After Repair Value would be.  During these Covid times many Private/Hard Money Lenders have tightened their underwriting standards but if your loan request is in the 65% LTARV range you should have some interest from Lenders.  Using your After Repair Value estimate of $525K, you should be able to attract interest in a Construction Loan of approximately $341K.

The fact that you will be engaging an experienced and reputable contractor should also be viewed positively given this is your first ground up build.  Your previous experience is helpful but ground up is a different beast entirely.  If your lot is flat with all utilities to the site then this should mitigate some lender's concerns as it is usually the horizontal construction that has the most unknowns and results in the difficult and expensive cost overruns.

The fact that you have equity in another property could be helpful for lenders who would consider cross-collateralizing to achieve their desired LTARV ratios, but I would not offer this at first.  Only put it on the table if you believe you are close and this will push the loan over the finish line.

As for looking for Private/Hard Money Lenders in your area, The AAPL website is a good place to start.  There are other organizations like AAPL that you can search through Google.

Anyway, good luck with your project Brandon!!

Steve