“Involved in a time crunch 1031 exchange…we literally had less than a month to close the deal from start to finish. For me it was a relief to have SFG’s team during this loan process because the hurdles that needed ironed out in the little time we had could not have been done without the knowledge and experience of SFG’s team. This loan saved the borrower millions in taxes and increased his before tax income by $850,000. Overall, the transparency of SFG’s team allowed for everyone involved to come out happy after the closing. I would recommend Seattle Funding Group to anyone who is in this situation… In all my 20 years in this industry I can walk away from this deal saying the lender did well and I’ll use them again.” Michael Laurencelle – Associate Director, Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation
These two, stabilized self-storage facilities in Victorville and Barstow (CA) were acquisition targets for the sponsor’s 1031 exchange. California’s High Desert is not typically a submarket in which SFG is active, but there were elements of this transaction which tipped the scale in favor of a good, hard look. The sponsor possessed a strong financial statement with solid liquidity, 800 FICO scores, and decades of self-storage ownership. In addition, they were paying over 47% cash down on this $8.1m (combined) purchase. Given the quality of sponsorship and facilities alike, together with the current and historical occupancy and NOIs, the prospects were excellent for executing their plan and providing SFG’s exit strategy – securing a traditional commercial loan. There simply wasn’t adequate time to obtain that long-term financing given the exchange dynamics, hence the call to SFG for immediate bridge loan financing.
Special recognition and thanks to Michael Laurencelle of Marcus & Millichap Capital’s Self-Storage Finance Group in Austin, TX. Michael called SFG with his client’s time-sensitive request and held steady the course as we dealt with and addressed the typical twists and turns encountered in a highly accelerated due diligence process. Never once did Michael take his eyes off the ball, and as a result, his client closed the 1031 exchange on time and deferred the tax to another day. In addition, given Michael’s expertise in placement of long-term self-storage financing, he’ll capture two more refinance loans, SFG’s bridge loans will be retired and the sponsor’s monthly income will increase as a result of the rate spread. Working with professionals of Michael’s caliber – a pleasure. Saving a new client a million+ in taxes – priceless!
