Vacant Commercial Property Funding

Milen Johar • 20 November 2023

Tricky Commercial Property Purchase Funded!

A London based friend was trying to sell a vacant commercial property in Bradford & asked me to assist his buyer who‘s normal finance broker was struggling to get traction.

Vacant commercial property has been tough to fund given how lockdowns & restrictions have affected business.
This case was the perfect storm as the property had been purchased significantly below market value by the seller and was being sold at market value to the buyer.
It had been occupied by squatters for some time & was in need of minor repair & an improved EPC rating prior to finance.

Facing these obstacles, Lee Albino & the Commercial team at Shawbrook Bank understood the background, saw potential & were superb to get the term deal done. Huge thanks also to the team at Brilliant Solutions (UK) (best packager) as Kieran Barnden & Michael Craig were simply unreal, showing continued support to see this over the line.

Friend is ecstatic he sold & the buyer has sealed his long term tenant operating an MOT / Servicing Garage. Whisky thank you gift was gratefully accepted.

As always, feel free to reach out if I can assist with any financing needs. My network is open to all!

Second charge flexible, overdraft facility arranged!

by Milen Johar • 20 November 2023
2nd Charge Flexible Finance / Overdraft facility for fast Auction Purchases & Commercial Interests! Pleased to have arranged a 2nd charge Flexible Overdraft Facility for a client seeking to take advantage of upcoming below market value opportunities at property auctions, but also have a "just in case" emergency facility to assist various businesses in their portfolio. The secured facility against the clients main residence, which can be drawn, repaid & re-drawn multiple times over 2 yrs, is a great product with a low non utilisation rate. The case was complex for unusual reasons with issues surrounding the surveyors opinion of the property's Insurance Reinstatement cost. In a nutshell, the surveyor had way over-estimated that a 3 floor 5,500 sq ft property required an Insurance Reinstatement cost of £1.3m, 78% above BCIS benchmarks! We all know inflation has been rampant the last 12+ months & has affected the increasing cost of materials / labour, but 78% was beyond belief! So much so, the existing insurer refused to amend their max £1m cover because £1.3m was deemed "over-insuring" according to their data models. Seeking other insurers was also problematic as the property had 7 bathrooms taking it outside criteria. With time of the essence & the clock ticking, Phodis Maratheftis , Mihaela Janko & the team at Alternative Bridging Corporation dug deep to help quickly resolve the matter & complete just in time for most of the latest monthly auctions which the borrower wanted to bid on. Considering the current economic backdrop, it was great to get this over the line. Special thanks also to Alicia Pattihis at Axiom DWFM solicitors for her expert assistance & advice, offering pragmatic solutions to complex case matters / issues throughout the clients journey. I cannot recommend all those involved in this transaction highly enough! As always, if I can assist any of you in financing your projects or with any property finance needs, then please feel free to get in touch.

Complex joint second charge facility across 4 properties and 3 borrowers!

by Milen Johar • 20 November 2023
2nd charge facility including a regulated bridge split across multiple borrowers & properties with licensing requirements. Done! Massively relieved to help a developer client refinance 4 of their 2nd charge facilities last week. The case was complex as the facility was secured across 4 properties, 3 borrowers and their current 2nd charge lender made life difficult by slapping on a huge 13% fee at the last minute for going slightly past the end of term despite knowing the case was in legals and the refi was taking place! Add to that 1 of the properties needed to renew its selective licence and another needed a HMO licence as the landlord was unaware his tenant was in fact doing rent 2 rent! Have to say, Phodis Maratheftis , Thandeka Faith Ndebele and the team at Alternative Bridging Corporation worked as fast they could to complete as quickly as possible to overcome all these hurdles, whilst lowering the interest rate at the same time! Massive 👏🏽 indeed! As always, if I can assist any folks in my network and beyond to provide funding solutions, I'm always happy to help.

Developer Refinance Mid Project with Equity Release Arranged

by Milen Johar • 20 November 2023
Very pleased to help a developer re-bridge a newly developed HMO recently after going beyond the maturity date with their current lender, and more than halving their rate in the process. The reason why they went past term is unfortunately too common where contractors sometimes do such a poor job it would fail building control and requires another contractor to start all over again from scratch! So equity release of the extra costs they incurred was also required. Complicating the case was the LTD Co entity was split across 3 guarantors and the entity owned other mortgaged properties - requiring confirmation whether non crystallisation letters were required. Add to that, the HMO licence was applied for, but wasn’t in hand. Special thanks to Shoaib Bux , Molly Markey , Chloe Skae and the Arbuthnot Latham team who worked as fast they could (including after hours) to complete this as quickly as possible. As always, if I can assist any folks in my network and beyond to provide funding solutions, I'm always happy to help folks get the best deal on the market for their circumstances at the time.
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