Buying a business investment without real estate requires specialized business opportunity financing. Although this kind of business financing is available, there are several potential problems which should be anticipated and avoided by prospective buyers.
When obtaining a business opportunity loan, borrowers will discover that many lenders simply do not provide business loans that do not include real estate as part of the business purchase. There are several other important business financing issues to analyze prior to buying a business without commercial property.
Interest in buying business opportunity investments has improved because of serious problems with residential real estate. However, because there are so many critical differences between financing residential real estate and business financing, it is important for potential business owners to educate themselves before proceeding.
In order to buy a business, a commercial borrower is likely to need business financing. If the business includes commercial real estate, the borrower will need a commercial mortgage. If the business purchase does not involve real estate, a business borrower must use a business opportunity loan.
Unfortunately the availability of business opportunity financing is more restricted than commercial real estate financing. There are also some potential limitations and problems unique to a business opportunity loan, and commercial borrowers should make every effort to avoid these business financing difficulties.
Our goal here is to focus on several financing issues that you should anticipate when commercial real estate is not part of the business purchase. Our suggested approach to business opportunity financing is provided below.
Begin your business opportunity investment financing plans by formulating a realistic assessment of cash available for a down payment and desired maximum business purchase price. In most business financing scenarios, a total down payment approximating 20% to 25% of the purchase price is advisable. Usually seller financing is permissible for a portion of the down payment, but a potential buyer generally needs to plan on investing at least 10% of the purchase price from their own funds even if the seller is providing 15% or more.
Because Small Business Administration loans are essential for this kind of financing, you should explore whether you will in fact be able to qualify for these specialized business loans. This step is both important and somewhat complicated, and the involvement of an SBA loan expert is strongly advised. Among the issues to explore are whether collateral is available for SBA financing and how important refinancing is to your overall business opportunity financing process.
It is important to consider the lease terms which are possible. As noted previously, business opportunity financing and investing does not involve the purchase of commercial real estate, so arrangements must be made for a long-term lease. The length of the lease is important because the normal business finance terms will restrict the length of business financing to the period covered by the lease (although you should anticipate a ten-year maximum for investment business loans). In other words, with a seven-year lease, the commercial loan is likely to be for seven years, and even with a fifteen-year lease, the commercial financing will probably expire in ten years.
Explore whether including real estate is a viable option or not in order to buy a business. With the inclusion of commercial property, you can obtain a longer business loan and the interest rate will be lower. Because the absence of a commercial mortgage can actually be an advantage, the improved terms possible by including real estate should not be looked at in isolation.
Discuss business finance options with a business opportunity loan expert before making any offers to buy a business investment. These discussions should include issues such as potential purchase price, down payment possibilities, seller financing, buyer credit scores, tax return requirements and collateral options.
Failure to Communicate Within a Small Business
A failure to communicate can create havoc in several critical areas for small businesses. Three potential solutions include business training, negotiating and writing. Ironically these functions are also among the most likely to be severely impacted by a failure to use business communications strategies effectively in the first place.
Communication Strategies for Small Businesses
When individuals and businesses talk about communication, there can be many possibilities as to what they are including in the topic. While cell phones and tablet computers might be relevant to small business owners, the more actionable areas of interest are likely to include business proposals, negotiating and teamwork. Writing seems to have fallen into neutral territory as a strategy for communicating, and along with that the use of business proposal writing has also declined within many small businesses. Until companies discover more effective business development strategies, writing business proposals should be looked at closely.
Finance and Business Mistakes
Business and finance mistakes can be costly and cause other serious complications. While it can be helpful to learn from mistakes, it is also preferable to avoid such situations whenever possible.
