Snowmass Hard Money Case Study

Snowmass is a great ski town located just West of Aspen. The town of Snowmass has done a nice job remodeling the village of Snowmass with new restaurants and stores and the town has become well regarded for its various festivals and weekly rodeo during the summer. We recently closed a hard money loan in Snowmass Village on a residential investment condo. We have closed many loans throughout Pitkin County and the roaring fork valley including Snowmass, Snowmass village, aspen, Carbondale, Basalt, Glenwood springs, etc… on both residential investment properties and commercial properties.   Above is a picture I took looking at gondola from Snowmass village.

Scenario: Borrower needed 275,000 in a week for business working capital. He owned a condo in Snowmass village with ample equity that he rented out. Borrower had spoken with other lenders that put various requirements on the use of funds, disbursements, etc..

Deal Challenges

• Borrower needed flexibility to use the cash as he needed for his business
• Borrowers had 5 days to have 275,000 in good funds for working capital (purchase equipment, etc..)
• Borrowers credit high 500’s which is below most conventional guidelines
• Borrowers business not showing great cash flow as he rebuilds after the last recession
• Property had nightly rentals that were unpredictable
• Property unable to go through many conventional lenders due to the number of nightly rentals (complex not FHA/HUD approved)

Fairview Solutions

• Fairview does not dictate the use of funds from closing proceeds
• Low credit scores okay, Fairview holds and services all of its own loans and therefore we are not bound by the same bank regulations
• Nightly rentals okay since Fairview portfolios and services its loans and does not resell on the secondary market
• Current financials not required. Fairview is a true asset based lender that looks at the collateral to secure the loan.
• A five day closing was challenging. Most other lenders would need to wait for the appraisal, etc… Fairview was able to pull out all the stops and not only close, but fund in 5 days enabling the borrower to complete their other transaction.
• Fairview structured the loan as a 5 year loan with a 30 year amortization with no prepayment penalty and an option to renew at nominal cost (whatever the attorney title costs for renewal were)

What the Borrowers had to say:

• “I enjoyed meeting you at the condo for the inspection. I can’t thank you enough. You did exactly what we had discussed on the phone and closed in 5 days; there were no games or changes like the prior lenders I talked to tried to pull. Thanks again ”

Learn more about Hard Money Lending throughout Colorado: coloradohardmoney.com

Written by: Glen Weinberg:  COO Fairview Lending