There's an office building in our town that has sat empty for... I want to say at least 5 years. It was originally built in the early 2000s by an insurance company to house their phone operators. But since then, they changed to having all their operators work from home. In 2012, they sold the building for just over $1 million. There was some talk of other businesses moving in, but that never panned out. So last year, the owner sold the building at auction. They got $150,000 for it.
It's a nice building. Or at least, it was. Scuttlebutt is that this winter, the sprinkler system froze and flooded the building. After the cost of cleanup and no renters to be found, the current owner is looking to sell.
Here's where my Bank comes into the story. My boss, the Branch Manager, has spoken with two separate local companies who want to buy this building, each represented by a different realtor.
The first company is a local family whose primary business is an auto body repair place. The sons also do small engine repair, construction, yard maintenance, etc. They're a hard-working family, but they struggle to make ends meet. They want to buy this 10,000 square foot building, move their auto repair into the back, and rent out the front offices. BM is reviewing their financials, and they're ok but nothing special. The biggest issue is they don't have anything saved up for a down payment, so BM is thinking he'll have to ask them to put up additional collateral, such as their house.
The second company is a husband and wife who run a successful construction company. They have enough saved up that they could pay $75k for the building outright, but then they'd be tapped out. They want to pay cash for the building, then get financing to refill their savings account. They want to use part of the building for housing their fleet of vehicles, storage for building materials, and then renting out the rest of the space.
Due to privacy concerns, BM can't tell either group that he's working with the other group to finance the purchase of this building. Whichever gets completed first will likely win. Whoever doesn't get the building will probably be mad at us. And their realtor even more so. Realtors hate to lose out on commission. BM is treading lightly while working just as hard for each of these customers.
It's a nice building. Or at least, it was. Scuttlebutt is that this winter, the sprinkler system froze and flooded the building. After the cost of cleanup and no renters to be found, the current owner is looking to sell.
Here's where my Bank comes into the story. My boss, the Branch Manager, has spoken with two separate local companies who want to buy this building, each represented by a different realtor.
The first company is a local family whose primary business is an auto body repair place. The sons also do small engine repair, construction, yard maintenance, etc. They're a hard-working family, but they struggle to make ends meet. They want to buy this 10,000 square foot building, move their auto repair into the back, and rent out the front offices. BM is reviewing their financials, and they're ok but nothing special. The biggest issue is they don't have anything saved up for a down payment, so BM is thinking he'll have to ask them to put up additional collateral, such as their house.
The second company is a husband and wife who run a successful construction company. They have enough saved up that they could pay $75k for the building outright, but then they'd be tapped out. They want to pay cash for the building, then get financing to refill their savings account. They want to use part of the building for housing their fleet of vehicles, storage for building materials, and then renting out the rest of the space.
Due to privacy concerns, BM can't tell either group that he's working with the other group to finance the purchase of this building. Whichever gets completed first will likely win. Whoever doesn't get the building will probably be mad at us. And their realtor even more so. Realtors hate to lose out on commission. BM is treading lightly while working just as hard for each of these customers.
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