Fund & Grow Financing

Fund & Grow Financing

Justin SheleyBusiness Member
Investor · Rockford, IL · Member since 2016 · 94 posts · 220 votes

After listening to the Clayton Morris podcast (EP115 with Mike Banks) about the company Fund & Grow, I became intrigued with the idea of using business credit cards to buy rental properties using the BRRRR method. The whole concept seemed too good to be true, so I hopped on BiggerPockets to see what people were saying about Fund & Grow. I always find great content here, and more often than not I find the answer to my question before I even need to post and ask about it. However, with Fund & Grow, I didn't find much. (If anyone knows of a discussion about Fund & Grow that I didn't find please link me to it) There are a few discussions where people were considering using Fund & Grow to finance a deal, but none that I saw that went all the way through the process and used the funds to find a deal.

That being said, I decided to start this discussion post and share my experience with the company from day 1 till I refinance and hopefully complete the BRRRR method.

For anyone not familiar with Fund & Grow, they are a company started by Ari Page that helps you establish business lines of credit for the purpose of creating working capital for small businesses. In my case, I will be using the line of credit to buy properties in Rockford, IL and rehab them into rental properties.

Phase 1:

Currently I have enrolled with Fund & Grow and completed my initial consultation. This cost $3,000 for their service of negotiating and securing the business credit cards. I spent 1 hr on the phone with a very friendly consultant and discussed my plans for the business credit and established a sole proprietorship for both my wife and I. This allows the business lines of credit to not affect my personal credit score.  The first push for business credit will begin next week, and I should have access to an anticipated 60k by the following week. My wife is not currently receiving accounts yet until a more established credit history can be created for her.  We are currently lining up several refinancing options with banks in the area so that they are aware of what we intend to do. Currently we are being told that we can refinance the properties we buy with cash after 6 months. This is key for us, because we intend to buy and hold these properties and do not want to get stuck after the initial 12 months of 0% interest expires on our business credit cards.

Phase 2 is going to be actually receiving the cash into our account and making our cash purchase. I tried for brevity sake to not go into the entire Fund & Grow concept in my initial post, but if anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns I'd love to discuss them.

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Lender · Peabody, MA · Member since 2015 · 82 posts · 49 votes
9y
I used a similar system to receive roughly $40,000 in credit cards at 0% for a 12 month period. The company I used took 10% upfront and then helped me liquidate everything so I had usable funds fairly quick. I was able to do a flip with the funding I received and pay back all the money before my interest free period ran out. It was expensive, but the flip more than covered everything and I was able to get in the game. I would do it all over again if I had to.
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  • Anderson, SC · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 40 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Tom S.:

    @Daniel Rutledge Daniel - you said you would use your cards to pay of a loan, and then get a HELOC on your primary. If you're taking out a loan via the credit cards to pay off an existing the loan, wouldn't the lender see that or question it? Or do these new cards not show on your credit?

    I saw in earlier posts that they still require a personal guarantee and still are based off your personal credit score.

    Thanks,

    Tom

     Hi Tom,

    Only the inquiry shows on your personal credit report but they are later removed. If you use one of several ways to convert the cards to cash you could pay down personal debt and drastically decrease your DTI. The debt is still there but held under your LLC.

  • Rental Property Investor · Blacklick, OH · Member since 2015 · 111 posts · 80 votes
    8y

    @Daniel Rutledge what option did you use to get the cash off, I am still a little shaky on gold money, my chase card said they can transfer the funds to my account but its a 5% fee. I guess that still better than having to use my own money. 

  • Anderson, SC · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 40 votes
    8y

    I'm still not finished with my first round so I haven't begun using the cards yet. My first thought of converting to cash is quickly buying and selling gold. I've also got a personal credit card than tends to send out cash transfer checks. I can use the checks to pay off something and then balance transfer to the business cards. If you have an existing HELOC there is a way to transfer the balance to the cards and just keep writing checks from the HELOC.

  • Rental Property Investor · Blacklick, OH · Member since 2015 · 111 posts · 80 votes
    8y

    @Daniel Rutledge oh ok I thought you were done, I am using my discover card checks and then just transfer the balance to the other card. It sucks because of the fees but you have to get the cash some way. 

  • Anderson, SC · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 40 votes
    8y

    Has anyone tried to set up a Go Fund Me account in order to convert the cards to cash? Just wondering if you set up a Go Fund me and donated to yourself using the credit cards if there would be any drawback. I am not sure of the fees associated with Go Fund Me but if anyone has insight on if this is a viable option please chime in.

  • Anderson, SC · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 40 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Daniel Rutledge:

    Has anyone tried to set up a Go Fund Me account in order to convert the cards to cash? Just wondering if you set up a Go Fund me and donated to yourself using the credit cards if there would be any drawback. I am not sure of the fees associated with Go Fund Me but if anyone has insight on if this is a viable option please chime in.

     Did some quick research and it looks like about 8% of donations go to fees. Doesn't seem like a good option but would likely work if it was the only way and you had to. Now I am wondering if there are similar methods as there are more and more apps coming out for people to quickly pay someone with the same app.

  • Rental Property Investor · Blacklick, OH · Member since 2015 · 111 posts · 80 votes
    8y

    cashapp is a way also

  • Anderson, SC · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 40 votes
    8y

    Doing a little research into Plastiq as it seems like a better and cheaper option to convert to cash.

  • Rental Property Investor · Blacklick, OH · Member since 2015 · 111 posts · 80 votes
    8y

    Yes I heard about that one also. @Daniel Rutledge

  • Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 1 vote
    8y

    So, how did it go and how did you feel about turning over everything they will could possibly ever need to clone you with?

  • Asheville, NC · Member since 2018 · 53 posts · 35 votes
    8y

    Has anyone investigated, or knows if/when the Personal Guarantees can be removed.  They are business cards, in the name of the business, for the business, just secured by your word.  I've heard that in 1-2 years the PG can be removed, but I've also heard it cannot be done.  I'm curious if anyne has any experience, or if Fund & Grow has addressed this with any of you.

    I'm looking at starting with them next week.  Do they offer referral codes (kickbacks to you) if you refer me?

  • Anderson, SC · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 40 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Chris Baber:

    Has anyone investigated, or knows if/when the Personal Guarantees can be removed.  They are business cards, in the name of the business, for the business, just secured by your word.  I've heard that in 1-2 years the PG can be removed, but I've also heard it cannot be done.  I'm curious if anyne has any experience, or if Fund & Grow has addressed this with any of you.

    I'm looking at starting with them next week.  Do they offer referral codes (kickbacks to you) if you refer me?

    I can ask them about the PG and let you know their response. PM me and I'll see if I can get a referral code.

  • Anderson, SC · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 40 votes
    8y

    Has anyone had any success using Venmo to convert cc to cash. Are there limits on how much you can send on the app? Thinking of setting up an account linked to s cc and paying my wife to our account.

  • Rental Property Investor · Blacklick, OH · Member since 2015 · 111 posts · 80 votes
    8y

    @Daniel Rutledge try googling it, I did see that on cash app you can’t get out more than $2k in a 30 Days period 

  • Anderson, SC · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 40 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Maurice Colbert:

    @Daniel Rutledge try googling it, I did see that on cash app you can’t get out more than $2k in a 30 Days period 

     I just looked and it seems they are all similar in that aspect. Plastiq is different but would require an actual invoice making it hard to pay yourself. Anyone using gold as a way to convert and if so what app or site do you use?

  • Rental Property Investor · Blacklick, OH · Member since 2015 · 111 posts · 80 votes
    8y

    @Daniel Rutledge gold money is what they recommend. I was able to get some checks from us bank. Chase will transfer the money to your account for the cash

  • Rocky Mount, NC · Member since 2018 · 10 posts · 4 votes
    8y

    Couldn't you draw from a Heloc, use cc to pay back Heloc through Plastiq, then draw from Heloc again and continuously repeat?

  • Anderson, SC · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 40 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Grant Carrington:

    Couldn't you draw from a Heloc, use cc to pay back Heloc through Plastiq, then draw from Heloc again and continuously repeat?

     Yes this is a strategy listed by F&G also. You can actually balance transfer from the heloc because the account number is the same length as a cc.

  • Anderson, SC · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 40 votes
    8y

    So I'm mostly through the first round and have done both balance transfers from other cards as well as buy/sell gold to convert to cash. I am looking forward to the next round as F&G is setting things up to fast track my investing. Very pleased.

  • Real Estate Broker · Windsor, CT · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 268 votes
    8y

    This is such a great topic, I have noticed that everything is changing where people now have the ability to make money on so many different types of side hustles. (ie: uber, lyft, virtual assistant via odesk  or fiverr) you  can start you own business right from the comfort of your home and become extremely successful. There is so much money to be made, I really believe you have to be persistent and want to make a financial change in your life. J

  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    8y

    I just finished my first round of funding and received $43,000 in credit, which I can now use for investing in real estate.  The folks over at Fund & Grow made this very easy for me.  Great service!

  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    8y

    I would just like to say that working with Fund&Grow has been incredible. My financial consultant Sabrina has been top notch. She has been courteous, professional, and transparent through the whole process. This company is so easy to work with, I could not be happier. I highly recommend them to anyone looking to expand their ability to grow financially. F&G has a great funding program, that is easy to understand, and they are hands-on when questions arise. I am looking forward to a long working relationship with them for future endeavors. Quick side note:  I paid the one time set up fee, of 3,400.00,  first round I got funded, over 56K in less than 3 weeks, at 0%. I tried the newsletter for the first month for the $50 a month, decided not to continue it, and unsubscribed with no issues.  Going for round two of funding shortly.  They do have suggested programs to help you liquidate the funds needed for funding deals, that are available to use once you are a member.  I hope this helps someone. 

  • Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    I also am very pleased with the results I have experienced with Fund and Grow. They have done everything they promised. I have acquired over $140,000 in credit, all at 0% interest - anywhere from 9 to 18 months. Plus several of the institutions have offered additional 0% offers after their first one expired. And none of these credit lines have impacted my personal credit score. My consultant, John Madison, has done an excellent job. He is very knowledgeable, professional and responds quickly to any questions I have. Steve H.

  • Investor · Fridley, MN · Member since 2015 · 108 posts · 25 votes
    8y

    Seems like lots of astroturfing going on in this thread. This implies either F&G is telling their customers(who might have zero real estate experience) to post here, or they're making sockpuppet profiles. Both make me think they are shady. 

  • Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2008 · 58 posts · 26 votes
    8y

    Echoing @David S. this is one hokey thread. Reader beware! 

    Build your credit, pay your debts, expand your credit lines for the future and be a good citizen. Call your mom.

    (this post was not sponsored though was influenced by my mother)

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