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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  • Rental Property Investor · Blacklick, OH · Member since 2015 · 111 posts · 80 votes
    7y

    I used the money for my downpayment on the 4 homes I purchased this June. 

  • Morrisonville, NY · Member since 2013 · 61 posts · 46 votes
    7y

    @Sulaiman Shah I signed up based on the feedback I saw here. It's true that you can get a lot of credit, but it is very limited in use. Again it is good for buying things or paying bills. The only way to pull cash off is buying gold and then selling it. After a couple transactions using one of the cards, the transactions were declined. In fact, none of the cards ended up being accepted since the banks can see you making numerous purchases. They know what you're doing. Perhaps if you made 100 small purchases over time to buy gold, then sell it, then wire to your account, you could have enough for a down payment (maybe). Another way is a balance transfer to a personal card. The business cards won't allow an ACH transfer to a bank account, whereas personal cards do.

    I can transfer 30K to my bank account from a personal BofA card for a 4% fee with 0% until Mar 2020. Then, pay it off by transferring funds from the business cards while incurring and additional 3-4% fee. Still not a bad deal for unsecured debt. But other than getting the balance off your personal credit report, you get a better deal with a longer term on your personal card. Sure it will impact your credit score, but if you don't plan to seek more credit in the near term, who cares? 

    I've used a HELOC on my personal residence to buy 4 properties. My goal was to secure funding to pay off the HELOC. I've been able to get a little money off the cards (you can only use Mastercard for mortgage payments), but it doesn't work well for what I am looking to do.

    Everything they do secure business credit can be done on your own if you have a lot of time to spare. I don't. 

    I'm not knocking the program as it can be helpful for some, it just wasn't for me. 

  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    7y

    My experience with Fund&Grow: The 1st round amount of business credit obtained seemed somewhat small at the time, but I was told with my starting profile that might happen. It was still enough to rearrange some debts from personal to business. As a result, my FICO score improved dramatically. Once that was accomplished, Sabrina at Fund&Grow was the key to getting $60k of 0% funding for the 2nd round of funding. 

    -Angela M.

  • Corpus Christi, TX · Member since 2015 · 32 posts · 12 votes
    7y

    Maybe I'm a supreme skeptic, but all these positive posts on Fund And Grow seem a bit fake. Maybe they are totally legit, but they seem very fill in the blank. 
    Hope I'm wrong.

  • Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2018 · 86 posts · 84 votes
    7y

    Fund&Grow have been amazing to work with. They exceeded my expectations how much they were able to get me approved for and their customer service and responsiveness has been top notch.

    Jason was wonderful to work with. He was able to get me $68,000 in business credit with the first round which by far exceeded my expectations.

    No doubt about it - it isn't easy getting the funds in cash off these cards. But it is funding I did not have and if you are starting out and needing a "creative" way to fund your real estate aspirations.

  • investor · Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2015 · 9 posts · 2 votes
    7y

    Fund and Grow ask you to leave reviews about them after you have worked with them I usually don’t have the time or inclination to do that but this company is unusually good and deserves it. There are a lot of very positive reviews so it would appear that they are very consistent.

    Brandon Kroon was my account specialist and is very professional and courteous. Always attentive to my questions. Always reliable with communication. I would highly recommend him. So far, after 2 rounds he got me 95k in business credit lines with 14 months 0% interest. This company is definitely worth their fee.

  • Gabriel F.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Fort Myers, FL · Member since 2014 · 22 posts · 7 votes
    7y

    I heard about Fund&Grow from being a member on Bigger Pockets and seeing posts made in the community forums from other members and was impressed to see upper management taking a priority to respond and be engaged with us. A short while later I saw a webinar 2 for the price of 1 promotion offer and I decided this would be ideal for my sister and I to participate. Thus far my sister was the first to get started since she had better overall credit scores and less debt than I had so she was an ideal candidate and as for myself they took a look at my credit profile and gave me the proper guidance on what pay downs I needed to make to be an ideal candidate. Being in the real estate industry primarily its most often that I'm required to jump through many hoops just to get affordable financing and I was surprised by the fact that for many years I had to use my personal credit just to build my business and it always bothered me that why would I need to be suffering from lower than desirable credit scores and debt for something that had its own business entity and needed to get its own footing established. This is where Fund&Grow made perfect sense! Listen, I'm great at building my business, buying investment properties and making them rent ready to provide folks with affordable housing. I spend a good deal of time working on my finances but that takes a LOT of time and energy! This is where Fund&Grow shines.. they are experts at obtaining 0% BUSINESS CREDIT with promotional length terms that make sense.

    The below testimony is for our greatest appreciation for those that helped us as they certainly deserve to be known:

    When I initially viewed postings by upper management on BiggerPockets I really enjoyed the posts made by Liana Alexander as she is very professional and is aware of client satisfaction. I then did my DD to research the company further and I found videos on YouTube posted by Ari Page and Mike Banks and just to see how much info they gave away for free to educate the consumer really showed me their passion and expertise in their field! I realize what I'm good at and I realized what they're good at and you need to follow the money so I banked on the fact that I was being taken care of and thus far my expectations have surpassed!

    When my sister and I signed up we connected with Zac Ricci, who was our Senior Credit Analyst and he was very informative and did his role in a clear and easy way to understand!

    My sister was initially assigned to Tiffany Carmichael who was able to obtain in her first batch $22,900.00!! She was very communicative and did a top notch job. On my sister's second batch she was assigned to her most recent Specialist who shes working with presently and her name is Bianca Rivera and in her second batch she obtained her $91,000 for a total of two batches combined is $113,900!!! My sisters thoughts have been positive 5 stars and she highly recommends this company and shes incredibly grateful working with previously Tiffany and she has nothing but very positive outlook thus far working with Bianca!

    I was able to get my very first batch finalized last month and my specialist that I was assigned to is Michael Richard! he is articulate, his communication is TOP NOTCH and is someone that I would highly recommend working with!! On my first batch thus far he was able to work through negotiations and have gotten me approved for a total of $95,200.00 in my FIRST BATCH!!! due to this happening I am now seeing more oppurtunities and I look forward to the next future batches ahead! I just got news today that a new specialist has been assigned who will be helping me with getting any of the inquiries removed so I can get going on to my 2nd batch next!

    This company is the REAL deal and it has truly helped our business in ways that words cannot express my appreciation and gratitude for all of the folks that I've come in contact thus far from this AMAZING company!!

    Thank you =)

    Warmest Regards,

    Gabriel and Annette F.

    Fort Myers, FL.

  • Wholesaler · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2015 · 17 posts · 1 vote
    7y

    @John Madison

    John, It was simple and easy to work with you.  Thanks again.  You guys came right in on the mark for how much credit we would get in the first traunch of applications.  Estimated approximately $30K in interest free funding.  Delivered $42K in interest free funding.  Thanks.  This helped with the last deal I did and will continue to be helpful in the days ahead.

    Thanks again.

    Geoff Bickford

  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    7y

    Sabrina Ubele with Fund&Grow was so incredibly efficient, professional, sweet and wonderful with working with us. She was always quick to respond, very helpful and informative and did an excellent job all the way around!! Fund & Grow is very fortunate to have her as one of their specialists!! Thank you Sabrina for accomplishing so much for us and helping us with greatly improving our credit!!!! ~Nicole Connors

  • Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2017 · 9 posts · 5 votes
    7y

    For those of you that have used Fund&Grow, do they require you to sign a non-disclosure agreement for the information they provide?

    Many of the posts (testimonials) on this thread are not adding any value to the BP community, and have made me a major skeptic. I’m thinking hard money lending is a much easier and similar priced option.

    I think it would be helpful to the community to see some clarification on the following:

    1. How does F&G help to set up business credit for a new business with no history? It sounds to me like some potentially illegal things are happening here.
    2. What is the strategy for getting the inquiries off your personal report?
    3. How do you successfully get large amounts of cash transferred from the cards without the bank freezing them? Even from those who have used F&G seem to have trouble here and end up paying fees equivalent or higher than hard money.

    Thank you very much to those who have added value in this forum. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Blacklick, OH · Member since 2015 · 111 posts · 80 votes
    7y

    @Caleb Coats inbox me, I’ll explain. All the questions you are asking I’ve explained to a lot other BP friends 

  • Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 27 posts · 3 votes
    7y
  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    7y

    Working with Fund and grow was the best strategic move for us and our business. We needed the funds just the way they facilitate, unsecured and fast and that is why we decided to hire them. Sabrina and her team has been extremely professional with great communication and exceeded my expectations as far as funding. I plan on continuing to use them for building my credit line and sure recommend their services to anyone who wants to hire a professional company to do the same.

  • Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    7y

    “I have been working with Sabrina Ubele since August 24th 2018 in obtaining business credit. I have to say she has been very patient and knowledgeable when I had questions and I did have many!!. She would walk me through the steps to get the credit I needed to start out my business credit. Sabrina's customer service is by far some of the best I have dealt with in this type of industry. I received the credit I needed and can’t wait until the second round to see how much more credit can be obtained, I know that Sabrina at Fund and Grow will do their very best to get the credit for my business that I need. I would fully recommend Sabrina Ubele and Fund and grow to my friends and business partners.”

  • Commercial Real Estate Agent · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2014 · 30 posts · 9 votes
    7y

    Jason Alonso with Fund & Grow helped me achieve a total of $40,000 of additional credit and I am looking forward to my next batch!! He is extremely responsive and worked very hard negotiating with multiple lenders to get this funding. Thank you Fund&Grow!

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2018 · 53 posts · 22 votes
    7y

    They helped me obtain $45,000 in my first round of funding. They explained how everything works before the process started and kept me informed throughout the whole process. I plan to keep working with them in the future. Great asset to have while starting a business.  May not work for everyone but it worked for me. Great customer service and friendly staff.

  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    7y

    This company helped me out a lot with their services. They used their years of experience and knowledge and got me exactly what I needed and payed for. They kept their promise and they kept me informed throughout the whole process. Because of their services, they helped me get access to a lot credit and money that I was completely eligible for and I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA I was elite for this amount of money and these credit lines. So imagine money that is just there waiting for you and your business behind that corner or wall and you don't even see it and you miss it. Well I am so soo happy the wall is gone and and I didn't miss out on money that was just there waiting for me. Now my business is so successful and these new amounts of credit I accessed have boosted my business so much that I couldn't do it without Fund and Grow. Hire them, you will not regret and you will thank me later even though I will just say your welcome right now for the record (:

    -SIMON, a happy business owner

  • Realtor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2017 · 408 posts · 361 votes
    7y

    Clearly Fund and Grow is starting shell accounts to say nice things about themselves. 

    Always a good sign of a legitimate and ethical business.

  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    7y

    Sabrina was SUPER helpful! Very easy to get in touch/communicate with and would definitely recommend her. Looking forward to working with her again!”

  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    7y

    They are so amazing and trustworthy! Sabrina helped me to raise credit lines for $5700 and on my first round!!! I’m an immigrant and I only have less than 2 years of credit history so I thought I couldn’t get that much credit lines by myself but they did an AMAZING job and My husband and I can’t wait to get more credit line!!! Thank you soooo much, Sabrina!!!

  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    7y

     Just wanted to give a shout out to Brandon Kroon for his tireless pursuit in finding the funding I needed to advance my business forward. Brandon is professional and attentive. He delivered as promised and who could ask for more? All in all, Brandon did a great job and I highly recommended him for your funding needs.

  • Juan FernandezPro Member
    Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2016 · 1 post · 1 vote
    7y

    My Experience working with Fund and Grow has been Outstanding!! Anthony F. at Fund&Grow made the credit approval process a breeze. I just completed the second batch with Anthony and he was able to negotiate $96,500.00 of business credit in less than a month. My first round with Anthony went just as well and came in at $97,000.00. Thanks to their professional service they have secured a total of $193,500.00 of business credit. These funds have been a tremendous asset to my online business and I am looking forward to using the funds for Real Estate Investing. Thank you again Anthony and Fund&Grow for your professional service. Great Job!!

  • Member since 2017 · 1 post · 1 vote
    7y

    Sabrina with F&G has been fantastic to work with. She is very professional and great at keeping you up to date on the progress/process. She also provides excellent follow-through after obtaining credit. She responds quickly to any questions or concerns.

    We have been through 2 rounds and so far obtained $115k with 0% interest. Sabrina has also provided additional contacts to assist me in growing my real estate business. She provide tips to get my personal finance in order and my credit score increased significantly.  I have been very happy with the results and the effort put forth by Sabrina.  I will use F&G again in the future and recommend them if you are looking for additional cash flow to help grow your business.  I could not have accomplished this much this quickly on my own.  The (flat)fee was well worth it, and much less than other similar companies charge. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Oakland, CA · Member since 2018 · 19 posts · 16 votes
    7y

    My brother-in-law also started working with F&G about a year ago and he has had mostly a good experience, he did mention some of the same issues with communication and direction about how to get the money off the cards was slow as some have mentioned in this forum. I decided to do my own due diligence before diving in.     

      I have been following this forum for a while and have heard mostly positive working experience with F&G. So I think I am going to go ahead and give it a try.

  • Rental Property Investor · Estero, FL · Member since 2016 · 195 posts · 105 votes
    7y

    These are great experiences we have been hearing about. If everyone could also please add what strategy you are utilizing this money for. It would be extremely helpful for all of us.

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