S-corp owned 4-plex, refinance struggles

[Patrick Braswell]

This post is going to mimic one I made 6 months ago, almost to the day (See here). After taking a mental break from this endeavor for a few months, I'm starting to dive back into it. Long story short (or short-ish) I share ownership of an s-corp set up by my grandparents for owning their rental properties. After decades of less than efficient management by my aunt and uncle, we're down to only one property, a 4-plex in Ocala. It's paid off and I want to tap into the equity to turn things around and expand our portfolio. Earlier this year, as the elected president of the s-corp, I attempted to refinance the property but couldn't get enough of the shareholders (all family) to sign on as personal guarantors on the loan. I have their support in this endeavor but not all of them are in a position where they feel comfortable tying their personal credit to this, which I completely understand. How should I approach this next?

1. Sell the property outright and use the funds to buy a larger investment? I would like to hang on to the property, largely because it's in a good location with a history long term tenants.

2. Move the property into an LLC, partially owned by the S-corp, which I believe opens things up to more lending options? I'm picturing structuring the LLC membership so that we'd be able to meet any guarantor percentage requirements.

3. Convert the S-corp to an LLC? I think this would have similar obstacles but would also have more available lenders.

4. Home equity loan or line of credit? Would this be possible since there is currently not a first mortgage on the property?

5. Hard money loan? I live in NC and have joined the local RE investment association and there are always members who have money to lend, but I haven't brought myself to ask if they would lend in FL. Side note: the meetings make it sound so easy...

6. Arrange to buy back some shares to shift the ownership percentage so those willing to be guarantors hold the majority? Thus meeting the requirements to satisfy the lenders who are willing to lend to an s-corp. Buying out the other shareholders completely is too expensive.

7. Some other creative means to leverage the equity that I haven't thought of? I'm very, very, VERY new to this so I'm sure there is a method I haven't thought of yet. 

I'd really appreciate some feedback on this, and look forward to hearing suggestions. I'm not much of a business minded person and certainly not the smartest either, but a feel strongly that there's a path to success here somewhere. I just have to find it.

Last question, and I may need to ask this in a separate post, but who would I need to consult with about LLC/S-corp structure options? An attorney or an accountant?

Thanks for your patience with me.