Sherman, TX · Member since 2014 · 4 posts · 0 votes
Requesting feedback from the wise RE Investing Yodas in this forum.
Current status: Nearing retirement (3 to 4 years). Current portfolio provides (net) twice the W-2. Will reach three times within five years. I am considering ‘going to the next level’ with my investments.
Situation: I recently received a flier from B2R Finance (some of you may have also). I read a couple of articles on this commercial lender. I am considering talking to them.
Feedback: I would like this group’s feedback as to whether 1) it might be a good move (pros/cons) to take the plunge at this point, 2) what reviews might you have on B2R Finance.
Investor · Titusville, PA · Member since 2015 · 298 posts · 150 votes
11y
I, in this topic, a wise RE investor Yoda am not, for, experience with this lender, I do not have. But I just couldn't help myself when given the opportunity to respond like Yoda.
Investor · NorCal · Member since 2015 · 281 posts · 240 votes
10y
Think twice before dishing out appraisal fees to B2R. I went through their Dwell Finance Division. They appraised my completely rehabbed 4plex for $170k. For comps they used a teardown office building and almost 2 year old smaller 2-3 unit comps to get that low value and offered 65%LTV on that. What a joke! All recent comps in the area were in the $350k-$400k range. They added my supplied comps and agreed that my comps were correct, but they refused to raise the appraised value. Their appraisal is a scam and I will file a complaint with the State Board. Their comps had very little in common with my building. None of their employees has any understanding of appraisals and you never get an answer, they always say they will send an email to another department to get an answer. NEVER AGAIN!
Wholesaler · Auckland, Select a State · Member since 2009 · 34 posts · 3 votes
10y
Just like Jim, I am a total RED flag on these guys.
I spent 6 months working on a refinance of a portfolio of 13 single family houses and 2 4 plexes. Approximate value of $1.4m. Properties we in B & C class areas.
The first round of comps were a complete joke, using absolute war zone properties for comps. When we finally got another set of appraisals (at our cost), they went up 33-66%!
We finally go to the paper work and their legal documents were the most extreme I have ever seen in 15yrs of real estate investing. They included
1. Borrower carrys opened ended liability for borrower costs related to lender securitization of loan 2. Non recourse loan had so many weasel clauses in was almost full guarantee 3. Required 3rd property manager to give away their rights (and they had to sign a 10+pg document for us to get a loan) 4. Required specific insurance companies that were 1.5 times more expensive than our current policies
They were completely unwilling to negotiate on any points so we had to walk away from the deal.
RECOMMEND YOU AVOID B2R as a total waste of time and money
Investor · Cooranbong, New South Wales · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 11 votes
10y
I got 6.5% with B2R, but I agree with your approach Steve. Save for future purchases, hard money is just not worth it. Slow and steady growth and don't get sucked in by the Fear of Missing Out.
Be very careful with B2R. I took out a 5 year loan with them over 5 of my homes. They have a release clause that you can transfer homes in and out after 6 months, so I expected to have the option to sell my homes during that 5 year period. However, in the fine print, I a liable to pay the full 5 years worth of interest even if I sell after 6 months. The whole thing was very misleading and now I am stuck.
Jeremy, I did a loan with B2R also and they shafted me. They added a 20% prepayment penalty in my loan that I did not agree to and that they never mentioned to me when I was obtaining the loan. It was the worst investing decision of my 15 year career; borrowing money from them. I would never believe that a so called financial institution, would pull something so blatantly fraudulent. I borrowed a blanket loan also and on just one of my properties I'm selling it's share of the debt is $138,000 however they want me to give them an additional $54,000 as a pre-payment penalty. I could not believe it.
Newark (Tristate), NJ · Member since 2008 · 19 posts · 6 votes
9y
DO NOT GET A LOAN FROM B2R YOU WILL REGRET IT! THE INTEREST THEY SAY IS NONSENSE. THEY PUT 20% PRE PAYMENT PENALTIES IN THE MORTGAGE TO SCREW YOU. THEY ARE HORRIBLE.
Investor · Cooranbong, New South Wales · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 11 votes
9y
@Elvin Ames You are correct. They were totally deceptive about their product. Before taking out the loan, I asked the sales officer if I could pay it out early. She said, 'yes, that will be no trouble'. Conveniently failing to tell me that I would have a $70K early payout penalty if I did so. I read the loan scheduled and nothing about early pre-pay penalty stood out. They buried it on page 19 under the term 'yield maintenance interest'.
And here is where they are really disgusting. Their service providers PNC/Midlands charge $250 for an early payout quote which is only valid for a short time. Just to give you an idea on how much penalty you need to pay them.
Investor · Cooranbong, New South Wales · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 11 votes
9y
Beware everyone: B2R Finance have just changed their name to Finance of America. Typical, build a bad reputation through deceptive practice and then disappear and re-emerge with a new name and brand to screw people all again.