On a Friday evening, around 5pm, our Private Clients Director, Rhiannon Carpio, received a call from an existing portfolio client asking if she was available to speak with a friend of his who had got into difficulty on a property transaction.
The Deal
Happy to accept the call and always up for a challenge, Rhiannon spoke with the client and ascertained that he had exactly 7 days – including the current day- to complete on an auction purchase otherwise he would lose his deposit and associated costs that had already been paid.
The property was a commercial property, with offices on the ground floor and planning permission to convert the upper floors into flats. A previous broker had obtained an offer but this was a development finance offer with staged pay outs and the client did not wish to develop the flats, instead the building was to be used entirely as an owner occupied office.
Not only was the type of finance unsuitable but the solicitors had not started any legal work despite having been instructed from the outset.
The Process
We started with a data gather which was assessed that evening and found the transaction to be viable. The client was incredibly organised and able to action every request within a few hours of it coming through.
Next Rhiannon contacted bridge lenders with whom we have previously transacted quick turnarounds to find out who had appetite and capacity. We went a preferred bridge company who we have strong working relationships with and have completed on a number of transactions. They also have a lightning fast in house legal team and we are able to communicate directly with the MD.
This element was important and there was not enough time to risk using a lender that we had no experience of, regardless of any promises made around speed to turnaround.
Rhiannon spent the weekend – in between hosting her daughters first birthday party – packaging the case, submitting a proposal and ensuring everyone had everything they needed to get the application over to legals by the Tuesday.
The lender here was outstanding and their team also worked the weekend to get the application approved and to their legal team.
The Dream Team
It was the Monday morning that we discovered the clients legal representation had made no progress on the legals at all. Using the team of professionals that we have built strong partnerships with, Rhiannon was able to introduce the client to one of our legal partners who had capacity to turn the transaction around in time.
Not only was our solicitor able to turn around but it was also done at less than half the cost of the original quote.
We were also able to make an introduction to our insurance broker who had a buildings policy in place within 24 hours.
And Breathe…
By 3pm – exactly 7 days after picking up the first phone call- the client completed on their purchase.
These types of turnarounds are only made possible thanks to the awesome teamwork between the lender, client, broker and solicitors.
If you have an urgent deadline give us a call and see how we can help.