Sometimes I run into new home buyers in Miami, Florida who rely on the sale of their old homes to finance the purchase of their new home getting in a bit of trouble. But for whatever reason the people buying their homes are sometimes unable to pay on closing day and so to their inconvenience these home buyers are also unable to pay for their homes and move in to them—a pretty stressful experience which often costs a lot of time and money. It’s for that reason that I recommend anyone who buys and sells on the same day to make use of interim or bridge financing and have it prepared by closing day, as this will remove the reliance on their buyer closing with them and will allow them to close the home they’re buying on the scheduled day. I’d also recommend being particularly wary and heedful of this advice if your buyer has put down a relatively small deposit with your agent (under $5000). If you’re in the Miami, Florida area, much less anywhere, it is well worth the small time and cost to set bridge financing up.
Hard Money Lending Florida
In my previous blog post I talked about hard money loans and the difficulties with acquiring conventional bank loans. A few years back getting a loan from a bank in the Miami, Florida area was relatively easy— at least compared to now when banks have issued stricter rules and regulations concerning loans. This makes it hard for investors to get the money they need to invest in properties, which some Miami investors feel is especially hindering as they live in one of the most dynamic real-estate markets in the world.
If you’re a Miami, Florida investor finding a hard time getting a loan through a bank, you might want to consider making use of Florida and Miami hard money lenders if you want to get a fast loan at your desired amount. As a disclaimer you should take note that the interest rates are higher with hard money loans so you need to understand the advantages that come with taking them out. For your safety you should get in touch with a lender personally and inquire about their rules and regulations and then come to an agreement and get your payment scheme cleared.
How do I choose my merchant service provider?
That’s a question that looms for many a small business owner. Finding the best merchant service provider isn’t always easy. It would be worthwhile investing some time finding a provider that’s right for you. There’s a lot of misleading information out there, and some merchants end up rashly signing up with a provider just based on advertised fees, but there’s just a lot of unknown variables that could end up causing some trouble down the road. Before you start looking at price you should take a look what providers can offer you and how.
For you to be able to accept credit card payments you’ll need two things: a merchant account and a gateway. First the merchant account needs to be approved. The gateway is the software that links with financial institutions issuing the cards you’re using. Afterwards you’ll want to make sure you have remote credit card storage, recurring billing, and Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance. There are some providers out there that bundle all that and offer it in a package, while others only offer some of them in which case you’ll need to fill in the rest by looking to other venders. Try to limit the amount of venders you get because managing the relationships between them could get unwieldy.
Once you’ve picked out a few candidates start looking at price–but there’s another topic.
Hard money loans and a bit about why they’re useful
Hard money loans (or bridge financing) are loans you can get approved easier and quicker than you would at a conventional bank. Of course there are downsides to this arrangement such as higher interest rates. But if you’re a real estate investor there are times when a quick approval is necessary to pick up a property that would otherwise be picked up by someone else. In those cases hard money loans can make all the differences.
One of the main downsides for an investor taking a loan out of a conventional bank is the relatively long approval times that can deprive them of golden investing opportunities. With hard money loans all you need to get approved is some good collateral which could also include a piece of property. This is different from conventional loans where your “background” is the significant qualifier. This is how even a person with bad credit history is able are able to get these loans.
Preferred exchange rates and remembering the hidden prices
In many cases it’s beneficial to look beyond the purchase price; in particular, foreign nationals who deal with foreign currencies will benefit from paying attention to exchange rates. This is one of the reasons we affiliated ourselves with UK based, “The Money Corp”, because we wanted to offer foreign national investors an edge when it came to investing in the Florida real-estate market. For instance, a few of the features we’re able to offer with the partnership include:
-No minimum trade size
-Free transfers
-Competitive exchange rates
Exchange rates can be pretty important if you’re a foreign investor. Property prices that may seem higher compared to another property’s listed price could end up being lower depending on the exchange rate factor. So if you’re dealing with foreign currency keep your eye on preferred exchange (FX) rates.
