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Vista Capital Solutions

Tips for Financing Fix and Flip Projects

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By Vista Capital Solutions

With interest rates at historic lows, many properties are selling like hotcakes. Additionally, many regions of the country are experiencing a historic influx of people moving in, adding fuel to the boom in the property market. Because of these underlying trends, it’s a good time to be in the fix and flip business. Your cost of capital can be quite low. Fix and flip financing terms can be excellent.

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Game Plan for Your Fix and Flip Business

Before we get into the actual financing aspects of your business, it’s best to start at the beginning. Do you have a solid business plan for your fix ad flip enterprise? This may be old hat if you are an experienced fix-and-flipper. If you’re just starting out, make sure that you:

  • Scout out your target properties in advance
  • Have a specific business plan, including strategy and timeline, for each property under consideration
  • Obtain a professional appraisal of the current value of the property and the estimated value after your work is completed
  • Seek out and obtain any fix and flip financing that you may need

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Financing Your Fix and Flip Business

There are a number of ways to get the capital you need to be successful in the fix-and-flip arena. Here are several to think about:

  • Obtain funds from a financing partner. Often used by those with deep market knowledge, the property flipper borrows from a partner for a share of the profits.
  • Take out a home equity loan. If you have substantial equity built up in your personal residence, a home equity line of credit may serve you well.
  • Finance via your 401(k). Many folks have considerable sums in their 401k accounts. You can borrow against these sums and use the money as you see fit.
  • Business Lines of Credit. In this form of financing, often used by experienced fix-and-flippers, you get access to a pool of money that can be used as working capital in your business.
  • Borrow from family. This is generally not a preferred method. It may be useful for those who work closely with close family members who understand the business and are engaged in it themselves.

Vista Capital Solutions offers financing programs specifically designed for property flippers. Contact our team today to learn more about our fix and flip loans, as well as our fix and flip lines of credit.

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How Could You Pursue Business Growth This Year?

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By Vista Capital Solutions, LLC

No matter the size and type of your enterprise, you probably have goals related to ongoing success. After all, it’s not sustainable to keep your company at the same level for too long. It’s ideal to keep exploring new ways to appeal to customers and move into new markets. Moving ahead with business growth strategies is much easier when you know the kinds of options that exist.

Market Penetration

Market penetration is one possibility. It involves selling more of your product to existing customers. For example, if your business provides a common food, like peanut butter, you might feature recipes on the back of each jar, encouraging buyers to use your product in new ways. Then, they’ll likely need to restock more often, which helps your profits.

Similarly, if you offer a product that people use frequently and regularly, you might sell it in larger packs that cost a bit more. Consumers probably won’t mind the extra expense if they buy the item often enough anyway.

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Market Development

Market development is another way to help your business grow. It occurs when you develop new market segments for your product. For example, you might have the company headquarters in San Diego, California. After getting established there, a market development plan could help you branch out to more cities, getting a larger number of total people acquainted with what you offer.

Have you thought about making items accessible through additional channels or models? Those approaches could also help your company become more profitable and well-known. Consider the example of a business that sells tractors. If it launched a rental service or rent-to-own model, those additional options could make more people interested. Some consumers cannot afford the upfront costs associated with farm equipment. Letting them rent tractors instead makes the expenses more manageable.

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Product Development

Product development could also be vital for growth. However, since this is one of the most cost-intensive ways to help your company gain momentum in the marketplace, it’s crucial that you perform the necessary research to ensure that people want your proposed products enough to buy them.

These are far from the only options concerning business growth. However, it’s worth exploring each of them and considering whether they could help take your company to the next level. Before choosing a strategy, make sure that you and your business partners have the dedication to stick with it, even if there are challenging times ahead.

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411Expo.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

Ways To Save Money When Your Business Needs Equipment

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Image from Pixabay

By Vista Capital Solutions

Regardless of how long you’ve already been in business, chances are, you’ll need to acquire some equipment to get work done. Many types of companies require machines or devices to make things happen. When you’re wanting to save money on your regular expenses, then it makes sense to see if you can do so on your equipment costs. Sometimes, the methods of financing that you choose can have a bearing on the monthly payments you make.

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Consider Leasing Your Devices

If you haven’t already explored this type of financing option, then you may want to consider equipment leasing for your business. Especially if your company requires devices that need to be upgraded regularly, this method may make life easier for you. Many times, people make lower monthly payments with leases than they would on loans. There are different kinds of leasing companies out there that offer various benefits.

Find Additional Benefits

Another important aspect of equipment leasing is that the lease company may offer additional services for its customers. If the company specializes in devices like the one that you’re leasing, then they may have a service package or insurance policy on the leased machinery. Don’t be afraid to ask your lessor if you get any benefits from using their service.

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Check the Company’s Record

Especially if you’re new to the world of equipment leasing, it’s important to vet the leasing company before you sign on the dotted line. Check any customer reviews that you can find about the organization in question. If there are any bad comments, see if there is any merit to them. Don’t just take a leasing company’s word that they do a good job. When other customers voluntarily leave positive comments about a certain provider, then you can trust that company.

Plan for the Application Process

Image from Pixabay

Just like with any financial product, you want to make sure that you are prepared for the application process. Every financial institution has different rules, so take the time to read them before you submit your entry. If the leasing company requires a certain document, then you want to make sure you acquire it before you begin the application. Sometimes, all it takes to deny a client is one missing item in the application packet.

When you take the time to explore different financing options, you can save money on equipment costs. Putting in the time to research beforehand will enable you to have more success in the long run.

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411Expo.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

4 Tips for Qualifying for Commercial Real Estate Loans

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Image from Pexels

By Vista Capital Solutions

Commercial and residential real estate have quite different requirements and qualifications for loan applications. Here are four tips for qualifying for commercial real estate loans.

1. Have Proof of Income Available

The lender will need to know about your income sources and income level before you can be considered for commercial real estate loan approval. This is because the lender needs to be sure your monthly income will be able to cover both your regular expenses and your monthly loan payments. If this is your first time applying for a loan, have your tax forms available, for example, a W-2 form. If you already own or manage properties, bring your portfolio so the lender can review your global cash flow.

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2. Know Your Credit Score

Your credit score won’t hold quite as much weight when you seek a commercial real estate loan as it would for a residential real estate loan, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still an important piece of information. You should make sure your credit score is at least higher than 500. Ideally, however, it should be above 600. If your score falls below 500, you’ll have a much harder time trying to qualify for a loan.

3. Know Your Net Worth

Your net worth will be a much more important factor than your credit score. Net worth is the difference between someone’s liabilities and his or her assets. It will likely be the first thing your potential lender will want to review. Lenders want to make sure your net worth is greater than or equal to the amount of money you’re asking for as a loan, for similar reasons as making sure you have sufficient income.

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4. Inform the Lender of Management or Ownership Experience

Crucially for commercial real estate, you need to inform the lender about your experience in managing or owning properties. Let the lender know whether you have prior experience in these areas or not. If you don’t you may need to explain why you’re seeking to enter the market now. If you do, then you need to be able to show the lender what kinds of properties you’ve owned or managed and how your skills and experience translate to the new property or resources you’re seeking a loan to finance.

If you’re looking to apply for a real estate loan, you should understand both what information is necessary for you to qualify and how the processes differ between commercial and residential real estate industries.

Key Considerations for a Successful Social Media Campaign

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Image from Pixabay

By Vista Capital Solutions

Social media advertising is an amazing way to get your marketing message in front of the people you want to see it. Its highly-targetable nature, combined with relatively low cost-per-impression make it an incredibly powerful tool for brands of all kinds and sizes. Before launching a campaign, however, it’s critical to form a smart strategy. Here are the main factors you need to consider before you put your money down.

Who is Your Audience?

Knowing who you’re targeting may seem like a social media marketing no-brainer, but far too many companies miss the opportunity to really pinpoint who they’re trying to reach. Social media allows you to serve ads to specific demos broken out by age, income, gender, and location. Drill down as deep as you can on these parameters.

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Where can You Find Them Online?

Having a social media marketing presence on every conceivable platform seems like a smart idea. In practice, it’s very difficult and expensive to maintain that level of engagement. Cross-reference your target audience with the one to three platforms they’re most likely to use and start there. You can always add more if you can manage it.

Is the Plan Consistent with Your Overall Marketing Strategy?

Brand consistency is crucial across all media platforms. Don’t trick yourself into thinking that social media marketing is any different. Use the same brand voice, marks, and style you would if you were producing a broadcast or print ad. Customize the dimensions and delivery to the platform; not the attitude and message.

Image from Pixabay

Are You Being Conversational and Engaging?

Engagement is key to successful social media presence, from organic posts to boosted or paid ads. Customers have grown to expect social media interaction with brands to feel like a one-on-one conversation with a customer service representative. That means you must plan your campaigns and posts in such a way that you can respond in a timely fashion to comments and complaints. You must also present your content in a conversational, engaging way.

Is Your Content High-Quality?

Speaking of content, don’t be misled into thinking that social media content can be lower-quality than your other forms of advertising. Are people used to seeing more amateurish content on social? Yes. Does that content convert sales? Usually not. Put your best foot forward and customize content presentation to each platform.

For best results, use these considerations as a checklist whenever you launch a new social campaign. If applied consistently, they should help you achieve great results!

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Tips For Flipping Commercial Real Estate Properties

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Image from Pixabay

By Vista Capital Solutions

Flipping commercial real estate properties can be expensive– there’s no doubt about that. From taking out loans to paying for repairs, it’s hard to say what a project’s final expenses will look like. Luckily, there are a few things that even first-time flippers can do to reduce their final expenses.

Image from Pixabay

Pay in Cash Whenever Possible

Did you know that you may be able to cut a deal if you are able to pay for something in cash or for a majority of the final cost in cash? This is true even at professional lending institutions and loan offices. The best way to find out if a business will give discounts for paying, in part, with cash is to simply ask.

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Even if a business or loan officer will not give discounts for paying in cash, you will still benefit from paying as much out of pocket, to begin with, rather than taking out the entire amount for repairs that you need in loans. This is because the less money you take out in loans, the lower the payments will be. As a bonus, interest will not compile as quickly, which will also help to save money.

Use Fix and Flip Financing Programs

There are financing programs designed specifically for property flippers, and cover the costs of acquisitions and renovations. Fix and flip lines of credit, and fix and flip loans, can be used by property investors to tackle individual projects, on up to hundreds of units simultaneously. Fix and flip financing programs are structured around the value of the property involved, and are very accessible to property flippers at all levels.

Image from Pixabay

Work With a Partner

Lastly, having a business partner can help to relieve the burden of some of your expenses. When you have a business partner, all of the expenses should be divided between the two (or more) of you. This option can work whether you can pay in cash or not and whether you can get a government-funded loan or not. Just make sure that you are working with someone you can trust, as you will also need to share your profits.

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When looking to fix and flip commercial real estate, try to pay in cash, take out loans with low-interest rates, and work with people who you trust. Doing all of these things can go a long way to saving you a lot of money.