WCRT - Message Boards

Phoebe King · Visitor Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 4 Location: Chicago USA

I'm ready to open a business checking account. Any suggestions for REI-friendly banks I can begin building a relationship with? Thanks!

DELETED-USER · Forum GURU Joined: 20 Jan 2004 Posts: 421

I don't think you are looking for an REI-friendly bank, per se. I think you want to go to a community bank where you can have a cup of coffee with the president and talk about any deals you have.

If you are only looking for a place to hold money until you write a check, pick a bank with many branches.

Usually at the smaller banks, the officers have a signing limit of about $500,000 without having to go to committee, so if you can present a sound business model for a property/endeavor, you can get a loan pretty much "on a handshake".

As a hint, pick up a 1003 mortgage application and fill it out beforehand. This will be your master copy, since you will have to fill one out for each bank you visit/loan you request. It's also a good idea since you are a business person to have a financial statement for both you and your business.

Additionally, be prepared to hand over 2 years of tax returns for you and your business. You may want to burn these to CD-ROM and make them part of the presentation package.

I bank at the former Prairie Bank which now became Integra. I'm going back to them for a loan, so we'll see how I'm treated since the merger, especially since my original banker passed away last year. But, they've done several deals for me...a 130k lot loan, a 90k line of credit, and a $800k lot loan with $1.6MM construction line.

If I'm not treated well there, I'll go to my other bank, also a community bank - Palos Bank & Trust and see what they can do.

You may also want to explore other avenues (hard/private money for instance) if you want to buy properties since the money standards are tighter with the banks.

Cress · Visitor Joined: 29 May 2009 Posts: 3

Well for cash savings I go with ING (ingdirect). I also use them for my kids' accounts as one of the tools to teach them investing. They can see their money earn money easily in their accounts.

Larry Karp · Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 6:54 pm Post subject: Hometown Bank

I just began working with Hometown Bank in Joliet and they seem to want to work with REI. We are in the process of financing a couple of properties and they are more flexible than most to help us out. They will close in an entity without hassle, bundle properties together, no seasoning, reasonable rates....
_________________
Larry Karp
Joliet/ Plainfield, Illinois
Soutwest Property Solutions, LLC
http://www.SWPSLLC.com