Searching with terms such as "loan + private money + co-signer" and
"private loans" brought up only student loans and the Mafia. (OK, I'm
kidding about the latter.)
Basically, you already owe $400,000 in private loans. Since you need
such a large amount of money, I don't know how viable an option
unsecured loans really are for you. Your only real options would be
credit card cash advances (meaning insane interest rates), and
unsecured personal loans, but the average ceiling I found for those --
when it was specified -- was about $25,000 - $35,000 per loan.
You are likely going to have to go with a secured loan using the
apartment complex as collateral, or cash flow from the complex as
collateral for a line of credit. One possibility: go with a bank that
will administer a low-rate SBA loan for new businesses, but that means
your partner would have to co-sign.
The single best vehicle for you may be a revolving line of commercial
or business credit, but again, your partner would have to be agreeable
and willing to co-sign.
Otherwise, you're looking at trying to assemble $400,000 from an array
of personal unsecured and secured loans, and cash advances, meaning
lots of payments to make each month and very high interest rates.
That will also be problematic, as any institution you approach for
such a vehicle will run a personal credit check on you. Even if your
credit rating is good now, your deteriorating cap to debt ratio -- the
inevitable result of opening more and more accounts to borrow more and
more money -- may make you ineligible for consideration. It's going to
hurt your credit rating, too.
My first, and strongest, recommendation is that you ask around, in
both the Hudson Valley and Waterbury areas, about reputable fee-based
financial planners or business consultants. Such an expert can put you
on a path to the lowest-cost, most secure loan arrangement.
Meanwhile, here are some suggestions:
SECURED LOANS:
Here are two options you may want to mull; both involve using personal
assets as collateral.
**************************************************
Stock-Backed Loans OR Borrowing Against your 401K
**************************************************
If you have a 401K through your job, you can borrow from it, but you
should heed the potential pitfalls.
See "Warning: 401(k) loans are hazardous to your wealth. Borrowing
from your 401(k) plan should be your last solution, not your first,
when you need a loan fast. Here's a look at the pros and cons," by
Ginger Applegarth, MSN Money, un-dated:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/retire/basics/4714.asp
". . . you can borrow up to 50% of your vested account balance or
$50,000, whichever is less. You usually have a maximum of five years
to repay the loan . . . ."
If you've been investing on your own, not via an employer, you can
still get a loan using your portfolio as collateral, and you can get
more than $50,000.
At HedgeLender:
http://www.hedgelender.com/
They'll loan you up to 90% of your portfolio's value.
FAQ:
http://www.hedgelender.com/FAQ.htm
Contact:
http://www.hedgelender.com/contact33.htm
Merrill Lynch offers the Loan Management Account, in which you use
your stocks as collateral:
http://askmerrill.ml.com/image/display/0,,23356,00.pdf#search='stock%20based%20loan'
"WHAT IS THE LOAN MANAGEMENT ACCOUNT? The Loan Management Account is a
single account for managing multiple loans, which gives you the
borrowing power you need for personal and business financing. With
LMA, you can pledge a broad range of eligible assets as collateral,
leveraging their combined value while keeping your investment strategy
on track. Plus you can keep your loan, investment and cash management
accounts separate and still have the convenience of managing all your
finances under one roof.
"When you open an LMA account, we establish your total available
credit based on the combined value of all your eligible assets in the
accounts you have pledged. You can access your available credit
through a revolving line of credit and/or one or more term
loans without having to reapply for a new loan."
Contact:
1- 800-637-7455
Also check out the Triangle Equities Group:
http://www.trianglelends.com/
FAQ & Contact Info:
http://www.trianglelends.com/qanda.asp
**************************
Revolving Line of Credit
**************************
Basically borrowing against a percentage of the appraised value of the
property; in this case, the apartment complex. Going through a bank
that administers SBA loans is especially secure, and your business
partner may be amenable to such a loan, especially if he has debts to
pay off, too. So, a revolving line of credit may be the ticket for
you.
A line of revolving line of credit is repaid from your cash flow, but
you can also still borrow against it.
Thomaston Bank (they have a branch in Waterbury, too), administers SBA
loans, with an option for a revolving line of credit:
http://www.thomastonsavingsbank.com/www/business.asp
Contact:
http://thomastonsb.hostingnetwork.com/www/commercial.asp
Wells Fargo Commercial Loans:
http://www.wellsfargo.com/com/bus_finance/lines_credit.jhtml
Their SBA loans:
http://www.wellsfargo.com/com/bus_finance/sba_loans
Wells Fargo's Business Asset-Based Loans:
http://www.wellsfargo.com/com/bus_finance/asset_lending
Contact:
You can contact Wells Fargo via any of the above URLs, or via their
real estate division:
http://www.wellsfargo.com/com/realestate_fin/aboutremb
Contact: Steve St. Thomas, East Coast representative: (617) 574-6339
HSBC:
http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/business/borrowing/brloc
SBA loans:
http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/business/borrowing/sba
Contact:
Click on "Find a Relationship Manager" or "Email Us." Or call 1-800-368-7808.
People's Bank - CT:
http://www.peoples.com/commercial/businessfinancing/0,,13546,00.html
OTHER OPTIONS:
Action Funding will help you refinance your loan on the apartment complex:
http://www.actionfundinginc.com/whoweserve/
"Action Funding provides loans and creative financing for virtually
any commercial or business need ? many of which are not usually
handled by banks or other lending institutions."
Contact:
Action Funding, Inc.
Torrington, CT 06790
1-877-599-6906
Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union
http://www.hvfcu.org/hm/hmflash.cfm
You can get a personal loan there, but only for up to $25,000 (which
is a typical ceiling for a personal loan):
http://www.hvfcu.org/ln/ln_SigReadiCash.cfm
You can also apply for a stock-secured loan there:
http://www.hvfcu.org/ln/ln_StockSecuredLoans.cfm
"Loans and credit lines available from $500 up to 85%* of the previous
day's closing value of your stock .Your money keeps working because
you keep any dividends earned on the secured stock."
You'll have three options for repaying: line of credit, interest only,
or balance and interest.
Wappinger Falls location:
http://www.hvfcu.org/AB/AB_Hollowbrook_sh.cfm
UNSECURED LOANS
**************
Personal Loan
**************
If you have a good to excellent credit rating, you may be able to get
an unsecured personal loan from one of your credit card companies;
however, they will run a credit check and if your debt to cap is
fairly high, they may not approve the loan.
Here are some companies that provide unsecured consumer or personal
loans, but I'm not sure of their ceilings:
American General Financial Services:
http://www.agfinance.com/
FAQ:
https://loans.agfcredit.com/Iaps/Html/AGGeneralInformation.html
American Unsecured:
http://www.americanunsecured.com/
Signature Loans (Secured and unsecured) from American Personal Loans:
http://www.american-personal-loans.com/signature.html
AmericaOne
http://www.americaoneunsecured.com/loans/PersonalLoanMenu.aspx
Offers unsecured loans of up to $150,000.
Search Strings:
secured loan + bank OR credit union +Hudson Valley
Wappinger Falls, NY +lenders
Waterbury CT +loan
secured OR unsecured loan +$400,000
unsecured loan +$400,000 +NY OR Connecticut
secured OR unsecured loan + pay off real estate loan
unsecured personal loans
paying off loans from family and friends for business investment
revolving line of credit +business +Connecticut
I hope my research is of help to you. If you have any trouble
navigating any of the above links, or if you need me to clarify
anything, please post a "Request For Clarification," and I will assist
you.
Best regards,
nancylynn-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
Clarification of Answer by
nancylynn-ga
on
01 Dec 2005 17:28 PST
I wish you had detailed which avenues you'd already pursued, and ruled
out, when you posted your question. It's impossible for researchers to
assume what a client, like yourself, has already done.
Since you haven't had any luck with banks and credit unions, can't get
a stock-secured loan, or get the SBA or Action Funding, etc. to loan
you money, I suggest you try calling these leads I provided:
American General Financial Services:
http://www.agfinance.com/
FAQ:
https://loans.agfcredit.com/Iaps/Html/AGGeneralInformation.html
(They are part of AIG, American International Group, Inc., an enormous
and reputable company.)
American Unsecured:
http://www.americanunsecured.com/
Signature Loans (Secured and unsecured) from American Personal Loans:
http://www.american-personal-loans.com/signature.html
AmericaOne
http://www.americaoneunsecured.com/loans/PersonalLoanMenu.aspx
Offers unsecured consumer loans of up to $150,000; business loans up to $250,000.
Both AmericaOne and AmericaUnsecured are part of America One Funding
and are registered with the BBB. That doesn't guarantee there won't be
a problem, but it certainly provides credibility.
You can check out this page:
http://www.bbbonline.org/cks.asp?id=10310075421736096
Or, you can always visit the Better Business Bureau's or call a local
bureau to check out a lender.
For instance, America One's headquarters are:
America One Funding Group, Inc.
5555 Angler's Avenue #15
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
Go to the BBB's site:
http://lookup.bbb.org/
From there, I was able to bring up the Fort Lauderdale BBB:
http://www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org/
There, I posted in the first part of America One's URL and that
brought up this report:
http://www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org/nis/newsearch2.asp?ID=1&strBCode=06330000&ComID=0633000026001664&ComName=America+One+Funding+Group
There have been four complaints lodged against the America One over
the past 36 months. All four matters were resolved.
The BBB's report on America One is very favorable:
"Based on BBB files, this company has a satisfactory record with the
Bureau. The company has been responsive to any matters brought to its
attention by the Bureau.
"To have a Satisfactory Record with the Bureau, a company must be in
business for at least 12 months, properly and promptly address matters
referred to it by the Bureau, and be free from an unusual volume or
pattern of complaints and law enforcement action involving its
marketplace conduct. In addition, the Bureau must have a clear
understanding of the company's business and no concerns about its
industry."
AIG and America One seem to have the broadest lending criteria of all
the suggestions I gave you -- certainly they seem more apt to take on
risk than banks, I would think -- and they seem to be legitimate,
respectable companies.
So, I would suggest you try them. If they deem you a poor risk, I
think you're going to have to consider selling off assets, rather than
taking on more debt.
Perhaps your best bet would be to sell a percentage of your ownership
in the apartment complex to another real estate investor in a
cash-only sale to pay off your startup loans.
nancylynn-ga
Google Answers Researcher
|
