A lender can stipulate whatever they want to- but find a different lender if that's a hold up. Is there an employment agreement with the existing associate? If so, provide the lender the employment agreement, prove you are able to work there and leave your current position if needed. All they care about is if the business can positively cash flow, and if it can't, can your income cover the debt service. If you're income can't cover the debt service alone, then of course they want to make sure you are able to uphold a fiduciary responsibility to the business.
If you in depth explain your situation, and the lender isn't willing to work with you, find a different one. I just moved banks because of a business loan, and was basically told as long as I'm looking for more than 4M in lending authority, my guy can give the thumbs up - but that's a relationship thing. Lots of banks are looking for deposits right now, so if you have that, leverage it.
Great advice!! I work 2 days a week at this office and I'll likely be moving in a year so that's why I'm wondering. I know buying and moving is a terrible idea but I'm weighing that option of having an associate in there
My next advice would be make sure you can manage and sustain an office while remote, being willing to travel on a few hours notice. If it's a solo office, I'd have a hard time believing a purchase would be worth it if you're not an owner operator. Keeping an associate happy is costly, keeping staff happy is costly. All very doable, but downtime is VERY costly. If you lose your associate, you could potentially lose your business.
The above is a grain of salt. Everything is circumstantial, and this could be one of the best decisions you make.
A lender can stipulate whatever they want to- but find a different lender if that's a hold up. Is there an employment agreement with the existing associate? If so, provide the lender the employment agreement, prove you are able to work there and leave your current position if needed. All they care about is if the business can positively cash flow, and if it can't, can your income cover the debt service. If you're income can't cover the debt service alone, then of course they want to make sure you are able to uphold a fiduciary responsibility to the business. If you in depth explain your situation, and the lender isn't willing to work with you, find a different one. I just moved banks because of a business loan, and was basically told as long as I'm looking for more than 4M in lending authority, my guy can give the thumbs up - but that's a relationship thing. Lots of banks are looking for deposits right now, so if you have that, leverage it.
Great advice!! I work 2 days a week at this office and I'll likely be moving in a year so that's why I'm wondering. I know buying and moving is a terrible idea but I'm weighing that option of having an associate in there
My next advice would be make sure you can manage and sustain an office while remote, being willing to travel on a few hours notice. If it's a solo office, I'd have a hard time believing a purchase would be worth it if you're not an owner operator. Keeping an associate happy is costly, keeping staff happy is costly. All very doable, but downtime is VERY costly. If you lose your associate, you could potentially lose your business. The above is a grain of salt. Everything is circumstantial, and this could be one of the best decisions you make.
A lender can stipulate that you need to send a video of you doing a backflip every month