Alternative Financing
I’ve had a lot of people ask how I buy most of my properties with cash, but not my own cash.First, I want to start with a typical lender parable.
A guy walks into a Porsche Dealership and finds the car of his dreams, it will cost around $80K and since the Porsche guys don’t negotiate on price, he pays $80K.He calls his bank, and within 30 mins is zipping around his community in his new car.Never mind, it will never be worth what he paid for it, and the bank gave his a 2.5% rate for 7 yrs…I kid you not.
Same guy finds a nice 3/2 home with hardwood floors in a "middle to working class neighborhood".The home needs work, the AC is shot, needs paint and general updating.ARV is somewhere north of $65K, and HUD is offering it at $41K.He calls the bank, and the same guy that gave him 2.5% for 7 yrs on his car, laughs.Citing numerous laws and bank SOPs, he finds out that essentially this home, because of its price point (below $50K) is "unlendable".
Now the “how to”-
The fact that you generally can’t get a loan for homes under $50K is a good thing for investors.Here’s why.These homes generally require much less than $10K in rehab.However, once the asking price goes below that magic number of $50K, it really means it can only be bought with cash, and that it will probably be bought for $25-35K.Yeah, that’s right.Why?Because most people in this market are first time home buyers who do not have an extra $5-10K to put into the home right after they buy it, even if they could get a loan on it.So the price and availability of money directly affect your ability to capture equity right from the start.
Back to the bank.Up until a year ago, I had no idea what a “signature loan” or a personal loan was?I was only familiar with collateralized debt.So when I was lamenting the fact that I could not get money for more homes an entrepreneur friend said, “call the bank and get a signature loan”.Having never heard of this before, I called, and sure enough, IF you have good credit and income, a bank will give you $25-150K just for your signature…to go buy cars, pools and pay for stuff you don’t need.Or, you can use it to buydistressed real-estate.
So, here’s where it could go bad.Don’t be stupid.Have your exit strategies.Then execute.My typical deals look like this:
HUD/Homepath/VA forclosure wants $41K for a home with an ARV of $65-75K.Let's assume it needs $10K.I start my bidding ridiculously low, so $24K, but eventually get it for $28.5K.I use "cash" and close fast and get it rehabbed in 2 months…could be faster, but that's the average.Immediately after I close, I am looking for ways to collateralize the debt…ie REFI.Because right now, I own the home OUTRIGHT, w/ no liens.I do have this other debt not associated with the home and I want to pay it off ASAP before I have to make my first payment.I can 1) use a portfolio lender (typically 80% of receipts, then I retire the rest of the loan w/ my cash).2) Wait 6 months and use traditional financing where I have the possibility to getting all of my money out of the deal since they go off of appraisals, not receipts, typically 75% LTV.While I wait 6 months, my payments on $35K are around $500/mo.Home rents for $850, so I can do this and still pay the bills.3) flip the property to a new home owner and make 7-10K after expenses or 4) do nothing and pay the house off in 7 yrs w/ the 9% signature loan.
I hear of people using hard money and the expenses associated, but for the smaller deals like these, IF you have good credit, they don’t make sense.Thoughts?