08JanJanuary 14, 2020 By Patrick

3 Things Needed To Qualify For An Asset Based Loan.

Huntington Beach, CA – Asset based loans can be made against any asset on a company’s balance sheet. These include accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, real estate and even off balance sheet items like purchase orders. However, simply having the asset is not a guarantee that you will be approved for a loan.

In order to improve your chances of being approved for an asset based loan, you need to have at least two of the three of the following:

Credit
Cash Flow
Collateral

There are different forms of asset based loans and which two hurdles you will need to clear will change depending on the type of loan you are looking for. Let’s take a closer look. The first benchmark in many asset based loan reviews is credit. This refers to both your personal and business credit rating. In general, a credit score of 680 or better is required of your personal credit. Business credit is a little more subjective, but primarily entails your payment history, past judgments and IRS records. The asset based lender will want to know that you are running your company well by paying your suppliers on time, managing your legal recourse exposure and paying your taxes.

In an invoice factoring arrangement, personal credit is not of that much importance. The majority of the credit decision rests on the financial strength of the customers. Because the lender collects all customer payments through a controlled lock box, the lender has more control over the repayment of the loan. The collateral in this case is the invoice itself and the cash flow is also manged through the lock box. Two of the three requirements are met.

In an asset based business loan, personal and business credit along with cash flow are most important in companies with low levels of assets such as staffing companies, law firm and accounting offices. The collateral taken when lending to service companies is covered under a “blanket lien” of all company assets. However, there are not a lot of hard assets owned in a service company. The focus in this case shifts to the personal credit of the owners and how profitable the business is. The more profitable, the higher the cash flow and the more cash available to pay the company’s debts. This said, loaning to service companies sometimes requires that outside collateral be required, such as a lien on a personal residence or investment property, if available.

In summary, if you have the collateral for an asset based loan you need either the cash flow or credit to compliment the loan request to increase the chances of approval. While higher in cost than traditional financing, there are lower barriers to being approved and less financial scrutiny of your business.

If your company could benefit from an asset based loan, we would like to speak with you and bring the best options to the table.

To your success!

Patrick Zazueta
Huntington Coast Capital, Inc.
714-719-8966

27DecDecember 27, 2019 By Patrick

The Difference Between Bank Asset Based Loans And Private Asset Based Loans

Huntington Beach, CA Owning a business takes a lot of cash on hand. Cash to make payroll, pay rent (or a commercial mortgage), purchase supplies, marketing and advertising, etc. Business owners reach out first to the bank they have their business deposits with to see if they can provide them with a loan. Their bank is a good place to start, and if they can qualify, their journey ends there.

Different types of asset based loans.

Asset based loans can be made against any asset seen on a company’s balance sheet. The common assets used as a collateral for a loan are real estate loans, equipment loans, inventory and accounts receivable. Other collateral considered assets by a lender are purchase orders and supply chain funding lines.

Asset Based Loans Obtained From Banks.

Banks provide asset based loans, but have stricter requirements than the private sector. The first difference you will notice is that a bank will most typically require you to open a deposit account with them in exchange for doing the loan. Depending on the size and type of asset based loan, the bank will require you to switch you entire banking relationship over them as a requirement for doing the loan. Switching your banking relationship is no easy or convenient task.

If deposits are not required, that means that the bank will look to fit you in to an SBA loan program. Banks mainly offer term loans under the SBA loan program versus revolving lines of credit. Loans made against accounts receivable, purchase orders or for supply chain funding are not on the menu for most banks.

The preferred type of asset based loan banks like to issue are for real estate and equipment purchases. The range of your required down payment will depend on the type of loan being considered, your business and personal credit and the amount of liquidity you have on hand post purchase. Most banks set their bottom limit at a 680 credit score or better to be considered for an asset based SBA loan.

Private Sector Asset Based Loans.

In the private sector the whole credit picture is also considered, but not scrutinized quite as closely. The main consideration is the asset quality itself. For example, in an accounts receivable loan, the credit quality of customers, average collection days and historical bad debt write offs are of paramount importance. The private lender will look at business and personal credit scores and evaluate the company’s financial position, however they will also listen to the story. Many business owners have lower credit scores because all of their cash has gone in to their business and this sometimes creates issues meeting their obligations on time. The private asset based lender understands that an asset based loan will improve the company’s cash and allow them the growth opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have without access to capital. This especially true when considering loans to finance purchase orders or establish a supply chain line of credit.

What Asset Based Loan Is Right For Your Business?

Our advice is to always check with your business bank first. They are the ones that have the experience with your business and it’s always prudent to confirm their ability to assist.

The facts are that most business owners do not qualify for bank loans. This is the reason there is a market for the private asset based lender. Private capital can be used as a bridge or as a permanent financing for those that prefer less oversight from their lending partner.

What Value Does Huntington Coast Capital Bring?

In a word, experience. We have decades of experience in the private capital and institutional capital markets. We navigate our clients through the options, saving them time and when finding the right asset based lending partner for their business. If your business could use some additional capital to purchase equipment, real estate or to finance growth opportunities, we would like to speak with you.

Call us to learn more 714-719-8966.

19DecDecember 19, 2019 By Patrick

What An Asset Based Loan Can And Can Not Do For You

We occasionally receive calls from people who are looking to buy a business. The advice when seeking an asset based loan is always to target a company with at least some assets. Service companies such as accounting or legal practices for example, typically do not have hard assets that they use on a daily basis. This disqualifies the possibility of an asset based loan assisting in the purchase of the company.

What assets do lenders like to use as collateral for their loan? Essentially, any asset found on a company balance sheet can be used as collateral for a business purchase. These assets include accounts receivable, inventory, equipment and real estate. Ideally, a company has more than one of these available to be used as collateral for the lender.

When dealing with a new business acquisition loan request, the first course of action is to explore the SBA loan program and see if you can qualify for a government insured loan. The advantage of this loan is the low down payment of 10 percent required from the buyer. The disadvantage is that the SBA loan program is difficult to qualify for. The underwriting guidelines review the target company tax returns to ensure that the company can take on the additional debt used in purchasing the business. Tax return analysis is the most conservative form of cash flow analysis because everyone looks to minimize profits on their tax returns to avoid paying high taxes.

Secondly, the SBA is also required to take outside collateral when making a loan. This usually means a 2nd position on the buyer(s) residence. Not all applicants own a home, or if they do, have equity to offer in the home. The psychological effects of placing your home as collateral can also be a bit intimidating.

If the applicant can not qualify for an SBA loan, there are private money solutions available. Asset based lenders outside of the SBA program are a bit more flexible. They look at the collateral of the business and see what cash can be taken out of the existing assets. For example, if a company owns equipment and real estate, can those assets be leveraged and applied toward the purchase price? Another popular way of purchasing a business is through factoring the accounts receivable. Invoice factoring companies are asset based lenders focused strictly on the accounts receivable of the business to be acquired. By factoring the accounts receivable, they can make additional cash available for the purchase. For example, if a company has $1,000,000 in open accounts receivable a cash availability of up to $850,000 can be made available for the purchase.

The last piece is what is referred to as a “seller carry back.” This is simply an amount of the purchase price that the seller agrees to accept over the course of a payment plan agreed to between buyer and seller. Asset based lenders view this as equity, but also prefer that the buyer has cash to bring in to the purchase. Cash investment from the buyer is important because it keeps them invested in making the acquisition a success. If the buyer has no capital at stake personally, it is easier to walk away from a failed acquisition. Buyers prefer 100% financing and lenders want some “skin in the game” in order to keep the borrower invested.

Asset based loans can make your business acquisition goals a reality. However, buyers need to be realistic in their expectations. If a buyer has zero capital to put down towards the acquisition or the company targeted for purchase has zero assets, the likelihood of success is very slim.

Advice: if you are looking to acquire a business using mostly outside capital, make sure the business has hard assets and you have a portion to apply to the purchase price. What was not mentioned previously is buyer experience. You should also have some experience in the industry your acquisition is in. For example, purchasing a repair shop and have adequate prior experience as a mechanic.

If you would like to talk about acquiring a business, give us a call 714-719-8966.

To you success!

Patrick Zazueta
Huntington Coast Capital, Inc.

30AugAugust 31, 2019 By Patrick

Asset Based Loans. The Difference Between A Factoring Loan and a Line of Credit

Huntington Beach, CA Asset based loans cover loans secured by any assets on a company balance sheet. For example, a loan secured against accounts receivable, inventory, equipment and real estate are all generally considered asset based. There are asset based term loans and asset based revolving loans. Term loans would cover real estate and equipment while revolving loans would be secured against inventory and/or accounts receivable. For more information on asset based loans secured by equipment, please visit our sister company Equipment Finance Quotes at www.equipmentfinancequotes.com.

For discussion purposes today, we will be focusing on asset based loans secured by accounts receivable. These loans are commonly referred to as factoring loans or accounts receivable factoring. Let’s get started.

What is accounts receivable factoring?

When a company factors their accounts receivable they are taking an advance on the invoice that was created when they sold on open terms to their customer. The transaction is almost always between two commercial entities versus sales made directly to the consumer.

These factoring loans are taken to improve company cash flow by speeding up the collection cycle. Without accounts receivable factoring, many companies would go out of business waiting on customers to pay them. Companies have daily cash needs and if you have slow paying customers, it can seriously impact your cash flow and your ability to meet your overhead burdens.

Factoring loans are an advance on an invoice to a customer. While this form of financing is popular across many industries you may be surprised to hear that a factoring loan is not loan at all. From a legal perspective it is a Buy and Sell Agreement. This is because the factoring is purchasing the invoice from the customer for a period typically up to 90 days.

The loan is paid back when the customer pays. The customer payments are directed to a separate lock box controlled by the factoring company. The customer payment is applied first the advance made against the invoice which, is typically around 80 percent, and the remaining 20 percent is remitted to the client minus the fee for the factoring service. The fee will be based on the amount of days it took to collect the payment on that particular invoice.

Aside from the improvement in cash flow realized by using a factoring company, there is another benefit. Because factoring companies manage the collections on accounts receivable, they are able to maintain accurate and reliable records of payments from customers. Factoring companies essentially outsource this function of the back office management. This is a big savings for the company and savings get larger the larger the company factoring their invoices gets. Credit and collections is a big part of back office responsibilities for any business selling on terms to their customers. Factoring companies completely outsource these functions saving the company salaries, benefits and down time from sick days you would expect with hiring an employee direct.

What is a Line of Credit?

A line of credit against accounts receivable is a revolving loan against the balance of accounts receivable. Typically the advances are made bi-weekly or monthly depending on the cash needs of the business. Unlike a factoring loan a revolving line of credit only provides for financing against the accounts receivable without the back office management associated with factoring loans.

Which is better for my business? The decision on whether to select a factoring loan or a revolving line of credit depends on many variable. The argument in favor of factoring companies is that they provide both capital and back office management to the company. A line of credit is typically lower in interest expense, but harder to qualify for.

Qualifying for a line of credit is a more thorough process. The balance sheet of the company is checked for things like positive working capital, income and retained earnings. A company that is deficient in any of these areas is rarely approved for a line of credit. When applying for a similar line through a factoring company, the process mainly focuses on the financial strength of the customer.

Conclusion

Both a line of credit and a factoring loan can benefit your business by improving available cash flow to meet overhead requirements. The option you choose will rely on what is most important to your business.

Could your business benefit from either a line of credit or factoring loan? If so, we would like to hear from you.

To Your Success!

Patrick Zazueta
Founder | Huntington Coast Capital
714-719-8966

24Jul By Patrick

$250,000 Loan for a Dental Mold Company

Huntington Beach, CA Huntington Coast Capital secured a $250,000 asset based loan for a company providing dental mold services for orthodontists!

The company has been operating for many years in the Antelope Valley and serving orthodontists across the country. Recently, they signed on as a provider to a number of Western Dental locations and needed more cash to cover the cost of orders.

The Challenge

The company already had an SBA loan with their existing bank. However, the existing bank was not willing to extend additional credit for the request. Huntington Coast Capital was able to secure a second position asset based loan to get them the additional capital they needed for growth. The $250,000 loan was secured behind the larger SBA loan in first position.

Next Steps

The next step in the process is to refinance both their existing SBA loan and the second position loan in to California’s Community Advantage Program. This new loan will consolidate the loans making one payment for all of the debt.

The loan re-structuring will allow the company to take on the new contracts comfortably without the financial concern of being able to afford the up front costs involved.

If your company could benefit from an asset based loan, we would like to speak with you! You can contact us at 714-719-8966.

To you success!

Patrick Zazueta
Huntington Coast Capital, Inc.

14JulJuly 14, 2019 By Patrick

$500,000 2nd Position Commercial Real Estate Loan Secured For A Lodge In Big Bear, CA

Huntington Beach, CA A client came to us looking to pull cash out on his lodge property in the Big Bear area of California. The funds were to be used for improvements to the property. The request was a challenging one due to the fact that the commercial real estate loan request was really more of a small business loan.

Commercial real estate loans for specialty use or single purpose properties require a deeper analysis. Unlike traditional commercial real estate loans against traditional properties like office, industrial, multifamily and retail properties, specialty use properties need to be analyzed beyond the loan to value and income of property. If a bowling alley closes down, for example, the is significant cost in changing in to something else of improving the location under new management. The lender has to not only be in the property at a conservation loan to value, but also has to buy in to the business being able to survive on a going forward basis.

“This place has been here for years! This is not a risky loan for the lender!”

This is something we hear quite often when being sold on securing funds for specialty or single purpose properties. Anyone remember Circuit City? They were forced to close their doors and are currently under a massive re-organization. Established in 1949, they enjoyed steady success through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s before feeling the pain of consumer shift to online shopping and competitors entering the space. I have personally witnessed McDonald’s locations closing! The point is that anything can happen with business purpose commercial real estate, no matter how large or how small the operation is.

What additional analysis is required?

Some of the points to consider with these property types are the following:

market demand for property
competition in the surrounding area
obsolescence of amenities or attraction (how many kids go to the arcade nowadays?)
quality of management
customer experience (in today’s world a bad Yelp review could have damaging impacts)
landscaping and overall desirability of the property

This is not a complete list, but covers some key points to be considered when financing these property types.

If you have a challenging loan request, we would like to hear from you!

To your success!

Patrick Zazueta
Huntington Coast Capital, Inc.
714-719-8966

31MayJune 5, 2019 By Patrick

HCC Can Now Offer Commercial Real Estate Loans In California

Huntington Beach, CA Huntington Coast Capital is now licensed to secure asset based, institutional commercial real estate loans in California. Prior to receiving the license, we were only able to place private money asset based loans for bridge or special purposes. Now that the broker license is in place, we can secure permanent funding for all asset types in commercial real estate.

We look forward to better serving our clients with our expanded asset based loan product offering. All types of commercial real estate will be considered. If you are looking for a commercial real estate loan, give us a call 714-719-8966.

08MarMarch 8, 2019 By Patrick

Why You Do Not Need Good Credit For An Asset Based Loan

Huntington Beach, CA

In the lending world, so much relies on personal credit as part of the analysis. Strong personal credit is something not everyone has, fewer than you think in fact. As business owners, when payments are delayed, you are forced to delay your payments to suppliers. However, because your business income is your primary source of income (in most cases), this means personal obligations can also be delayed. Timely payments on items such as your personal mortgage payments, electricity bill, car payments, and so forth all attribute toward your credit score. Delays in revenue and income from your business can quickly effect your personal life and negatively impact your credit score. A poor credit score makes it nearly impossible to be approved for additional credit.

Asset based loans come to the rescue in these cases! Asset based loans can be used for either real estate or business loan purposes. Let us explore below.

Asset Based Loans For Business.

The company balance sheet reflects all the assets of a business (remember assets, minus liabilities equals equity?). Assets that can be used as collateral for an asset based loan are accounts receivable, equipment, inventory, and real estate (more on asset based real estate loans below).

Accounts receivable are payment obligations from customers for goods purchased or services performed. An accounts receivable invoice reflects the amount due and when payment is expected (usually with 30, 60 or 90 days). These invoices are considered assets and can be used as collateral for a loan.

There are two types of asset based loans available against invoices and those are factoring loans and an asset based line of credit. A factoring loan is a buy sell agreement where the factor provides and advance against the face amount of the invoices to improve the cash flow of the business. Factoring loans are more than just an advance. In a factoring arrangement the factor manages the back office and credit and collection functions for the client. Outsourcing the back office functions is often more cost effective than hiring internal staff. For more information on factoring loans click here.

An asset based accounts receivable line of credit provides an advance against accounts on a total availability In this type of arrangement the lender looks at the accounts receivable aging and advances against the total balance outstanding. There is no back office management involved in an asset based line of credit and as such, the rates are a bit lower.

Asset based loans against inventory and equipment are just as you would expect. The lender advances against the value of the collateral. Proceeds are used to increase working capital and assist in growing the business. Equipment loans have been a major source of growth for us in the asset based loan category. For more information on this type of loan please visit our sister company Equipment Finance Quotes.

Asset Based Loans For Commercial Real Estate.

Commercial real estate transactions also use asset based loans on a broad basis. If you have a traditional property type and have plenty of time to close using a bank is your best bet. High scrutiny in underwriting translates in to lower rates although the process can be tedious.

Asset based loans in commercial real estate are used as bridge loans to acquire property. Scenarios where time is of the essence or where a property requires creative underwriting, fit well with asset based commercial loan requests. Virtually all property types are considered and the process is much faster and much less document intensive than traditional bank loans. For more information on asset based loans for commercial real estate click here.

You noticed that I did not mention personal credit in any of the explanations above. This is because it does not come in to the analysis to any important degree. The only exception to this is if the borrower has a negative mark on his credit where a lender providing a similar loan took a loss on that loan. Poor credit due to inquiries, slow payment of personal obligations, charge off notices, default on credit cards and the like rarely come in to play. The main focus is the quality of the asset being used as collateral.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. If your business could use an asset based loan or if you need an asset based loan to acquire commercial real estate, give us a call at 714-719-8966.

To your success!

Patrick Zazueta | Managing Director
Huntington Coast Capital, Inc.

06MarMarch 8, 2019 By Patrick

Choosing The Right Asset Based Loan For Your Needs

Huntington Beach, CA We often receive inquiries from clients looking for an asset based loan for working capital for their business. A common mistake that traps many business owners from obtaining the capital they need to grow is taking on the wrong form of debt.

The number 1 killer of business is taking on an asset based term loan when they should be utilizing and asset based line of credit. We have seen countless times how companies strap themselves with term debt when their capital needs are really short term. Let me explain. If you were in need a $50,000 asset based loan to cover the cost of a purchase order you would not want to borrow the money on a fixed monthly payment plan. Why? FINANCE 101 never use long term debt to cover short term expenses.

Purchase order financing is a revolving need. You receive one purchase order, fulfill it, receive another and so forth. Taking out an asset based loan on a term basis straps the cash flow of the company making it difficult to pay the debt back in a lump sum.

There are predatory lenders out there that will sell you a term loan under the auspices that it is working capital when in fact it is actually term debt. Further, making matters even more difficult, is they will take their payments automatically from your checking account on a daily or weekly basis. This makes cash flow strapped even further and forces the business owner to take out another loan and the cycle repeats. The sales people at these companies are only interested in their commission on the loan and most have never run a business for themselves.

On the contrary, a revolving asset based business loan provides you with the revolving credit you need to allow you to borrow the money when you need it and pay it down through the normal course of the business cycle. How? Let us use the previous example of a $50,000 asset based purchase order loan. The asset is the purchase order. A promise to pay from a credit worthy customer for goods or services your company is providing. If your cost to fulfill the purchase order is $50,000 and your sale price for the sake of round numbers is $100,000, you can pay the loan back entirely upon receipt of payment from the customer. Once the $100,000 is paid by the customer, $50,000 of that payment goes to pay down the loan amount and the borrowing process repeats.

Why can we not do the same thing with a term loan? There are a couple of reasons for this. First, term loans often come with pre-payment penalties over the first two years. You can not pay them off without paying an extra fee in the first two years of the agreement. This is not ideal for short term asset based loan needs. Secondly, term loan lenders will file what is known as a UCC-1 blanket lien on the company making it impossible for another lender to provide financing until the debt is paid off. This second requirement is a major road block.

There is an exception to the rule however, but it does not favor the business owner. Some term loan asset based lenders will allow additional debt. This means that you can have more than one term loan. The problem with this is as the term debt is stacked up, your monthly payment obligations increase. Lenders measure your ability to pay by the amount of income the company has after all other debts are paid. There comes a point where the company can not take on any more debt and borrows its way out of business.

What is the solution? There are two many scenarios and variables within each to discuss here. The moral of the story is to apply the right type of financing to the right needs. This is not always easy to determine. Especially, when you have a persistent sales person telling you that his term loan is what you need for your business. Let Huntington Coast Capital manage your asset based loan decisions for you. Our unbiased consultation will give you the honest truth about which type of financing is right for you. We have a unique advantage over the lenders out there and that is simply that we are not lending our own money. Our objective is not to sell our product, but to consult with you to determine which is best for your business.

Do not trust a salesperson trying to hit a quota! We align ourselves on your side of the table and have your best interest in mind. In need of an asset based loan? Do not make the decision without contacting us first.

To your success!

Patrick Zazueta – 714-719-8966
Managing Director, Huntington Coast Capital, Inc.

15FebFebruary 15, 2019 By Patrick

Asset Based Loan Funding Announcements

Huntington Beach, CA Huntington Coast Capital is proud to announce that we secured $525,070 in new asset based term loans for our clients through the first two weeks of February! The loan details are as follows:

A $350,000 asset based loan for a distributor of cell phone and tablet accessories. The company once had sales of over $20,000,000 a year and had a $1,000,000 line of credit with Bank of America. However, margins in the electronic accessories industry are becoming increasingly thin with all the big players entering the market. In 2017 the company made the conscious decision to exit the high volume, low margin business and pursue the smaller volume, but higher margin business. As a result, their profits were not greatly effected, but their gross sales went down and thus their need for a $1,000,000 line of credit. Surprisingly, Bank of America asked them to find a new lender as they do not provide lines of credit of that size to their clients. They are interested in the larger borrowers. The pressure to find an asset based loan was mounting as the requirement was to pay off the entire $350,000 as quickly as possible. Huntington Coast Capital was able to find them an asset based loan to get them out of their predicament! With an asset based term loan now in place, the company can re-focus on operations with Bank of America off their backs
A $175,000 asset based loan for a restaurant owner. An established restaurant owner was looking for a loan to open a new concept in a second location. Due to the company ownership structure that included investor unwilling to guarantee the loan, a little creativity was required to secure the financing they were looking for to expand. HCC was successful is obtaining an asset based loan for the company after numerous lenders on both the private and institutional side. There was no interest from a number of SBA lenders and the loan was ultimately completed by a non-SBA lender offering a 10-year asset based term loan. The term of the loan kept the payments down and allowed the company enough cash flow to carry the new project.
A $70,000 asset based loan to a physicians consultant company. A consultancy group came to us looking to refinance some high priced MCA loans or merchant cash advance lenders. These loans are expensive to say the least and they often require direct daily debits from the bank account of the client. With high interest sucking the cash flow out of the company, they needed answers quickly. HCC secured an asset based loan to refinance these high priced lenders and also provided for a portion of cash out to be used as working capital for some new contracts coming down the pipeline.

If your company could benefit from an asset based loan or if you are in need of an asset based loan for a commercial real estate purchase or refinance, we would like to speak with you.