Start a Restaurant

Up until recently restaurant financing, was burdensome and very limiting. Not only are there only a few lenders interested in restaurant financing, refinancing for this type of business is very difficult to obtain. If you are already in the restaurant business or are planning to open a restaurant, you really do have only a handful of lenders to choose from and even they remain overly cautious with very conservative guidelines.

Thankfully, in the past few years there have been a few more lenders decide to offer restaurant financing, and a few more options. For example, no you can look at stated income loans or loans that are amortized over 30 years. The main reason for the conservative lending patterns is that the restaurant industry has almost twice as many bankruptcies as any other industry. Plus this industry has a lot of seller financing which makes it riskier and more complicated for financial institutes.

When a restaurant loan is underwritten, it focuses more on the debt coverage ratios, loan to value ratios, your credit worthiness, and other more traditional requirements. The debt coverage ratio is the most important and is usually quite conservative around 1:1.3 meaning that for every $1.30 of net income the mortgage payment can’t be over $1.00.

Stated income loans are relatively new for restaurant financing, and they’ve come to be because of the cash nature of the restaurant business. It’s an excellent option for you if your net income isn’t enough for a traditional loan.

The restrictions on most loan to value ratios usually tops out at 60% except in some high leverage loans where it might be as high as 90%. All of these numbers really are dependent on both the lender and your personal situation. Restaurant financing is one type of lending that doesn’t have a cut and dry set of requirements. Your personal credit score will almost always come into play with restaurant financing, with a credit score of 640 being about the lowest credit score that lenders will look at.

Restaurant financing may be a little more difficult than other types of business financing, but you should never let that stand in your way. Online lenders are much more flexible than traditional lending institutes like the banks, so do your research, and explore all your options.

Above all, never give up on your dreams. If owning a restaurant is your dream, then keep at it until you find restaurant financing that works for you!

Author: Gordon Petten
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Restaurant financing was once very difficult to obtain but today there are many options for financing and restaurant loans are offered by various financial institutes as well as traditional banks.

There are many factors that will come into play when looking to obtain financing for your new restaurant. For example, the size of your restaurant, your experience, how much funding you are putting up, and how much funding you need.

Money makes the world go round and it definitely makes your restaurant go round. Whether you are opening your very first restaurant, moving your existing restaurant to a bigger location, remodeling, or adding new a new bar – it matters not, all of it entails restaurant financing, and restaurant loans are much different than regular business loans.

Restaurant loans can be challenging to obtain and frustrating for you. This just isn’t an industry that the banks like, so you need to be ready for rejection to occur. The good news is that there are loans available if you just persevere. Here are some tips to help you get that financing in place.

Explore

Explore various financing options. What works for someone else might not be right for you. So don’t be afraid to spend some time online to find the right loans for you.

Commercial Restaurant Loans

You may have trouble finding conventional restaurant loans, especially if this is a new venture without a proven track record, but it’s still worth a shot. The key is to be able to prove to the bank that you are really low risk. The banks job is to have assets to cover a percentage of the amount of money they lend, so take a little time to understand how this works.

SBA Loans

SBA loans are something that many aren’t familiar with. This is an alternative to the traditional restaurant loans offered by your bank. Through the private sector loans are granted through various lenders and the SBA will guarantee up to 85% of the principal. There are actually more than 500 lenders in Canada that offer SBA loans. If you are turned down on traditional restaurant loans, you may be a candidate for an SBA loan.

Investors

There are many individuals and companies that are interested in investing in new ventures including restaurants. Unlike restaurant loans investors own a portion of the business. You determine the agreement between you and the investor.

Seller Financing

If you are purchasing an existing restaurant many times the seller is willing to finance. Don’t be afraid to ask.

There you have it – restaurant loans are readily available, perhaps just not in the traditional form that we are so used to, but certainly in many other forms.

Author: Gordon Petten
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty