Tyler was one of the first clients I talked with after I started sbaloansHQ. He was tossing around the idea of multiple opportunities, and would frequently send properties or businesses over to get my take. He was a strong buyer: well organized, sent requested items quickly, knew what he was talking about with the opportunities, etc. Although he had never owned a small business, he had experience in the past with real estate and his Fiancé had some experience with event planning which made everything click. It wasn't long after we met he came to me with a Wedding Venue that had been crushed by the pandemic - saying the financials didn't look great would be an understatement. Especially considering the owner's $3 million price tag at the time. I ran some numbers for him and came up to a price that would be a "Hail Mary", but technically met the basic requirements of an SBA loan (a third of the asking price). I assumed he would go looking elsewhere (he may have), because the real estate itself was worth more than what I was proposing. Even if he stuck with me, there's no way the seller backs off that much. I set the deal to the side and moved on.
Tyler did NOT move on. He kept bringing the deal back with new information, new explanations, and eventually talked the seller down some off of the initial purchase. With each communication, I would work up a new "Hail Mary" scenario which consisted of giant amounts of seller debt, the SBA loan, and Tyler's equity. I was really just trying to see if it would scare anybody off. A few weeks later we set up a zoom call with the seller, her assistant, accountant, real estate agent, and buyer. All peppering me with questions like "why can't we do this?" "what if you set it up this way?" "are you sure you know what you're doing?". At this point, I knew the seller was in. If the deal I proposed was even enough to garner a conversation, we couldn't be that far off. So Tyler held strong in his offer and I took the deal to the lender (one out of a few I thought would even look at the deal), and got them on board with our proposed structure.
Several times throughout the process the seller tried to change something about the deal, her note(s), or just flat out say she wasn't selling anymore. Every time it felt like we were starting over, but Tyler held strong throughout. He was willing to move a bit, there just wasn't anywhere to go. I received calls from the seller's agent, the seller, her family members, just about anyone you could think of throughout the process trying to get the needle to move in their direction. Ultimately, we got everyone on the same page and it was understood by all that there is ONLY one path forward.
Somewhere in the middle of all of this Tyler and Leah had a wedding of their own, and they can now proudly host other couples at a beautiful venue they get to call their own.
A long 9 months from start to finish I'm glad to see this baby move out of my inbox.
