It's enticing when you're looking to buy a business, and the current owner offers to finance the transaction and let you pay them over time. Who wouldn't want to save the hassle of applying for a bank or SBA loan !!
Slow down, friends. In these situations, the owner is often willing to take the note but wants to be paid back over a handful of years. Unfortunately, this financing arrangement equates to large monthly payments that can often be difficult to meet.
We get a call about once a month from somebody in this situation who would like to take the time to refinance the note into an SBA note and get the benefit of ten-year financing and lower monthly payments. The problem is that you have to wait for your current loan to season for two years before you can refinance it.
Want to learn more about the benefits of SBA financing for acquisitions? Join our President and SBAQUEEN Lynn Ozer for a webinar this Wednesday at noon EST. Join here
Ami, Great point ! I ran into this wall as well. How I made it happen - I offered the seller
a 5year note on a 10 year amortization schedule with a Balloon payment.
I sweetened it even more with a call option if I was able to pay it off in 48 and 36 months with generous 6 figure hair cuts on the price If was able to pay it off early or have it refinanced.