Seeing a challenging property purchase through to the end

With many other buyers falling at the hurdles on buying a Grade II listed holiday let complex, could Swoop close the deal for our customer?

Alex Dury is like many entrepreneurs: after a lifetime of acquiring skills and experience in one area, they see an opportunity where those skills put them at an advantage. In Alex’s case, his career as a builder meant that property investment was an attractive option for him as he could add value to his own property at low cost. 

When Alex saw that a bed and breakfast plus two small cottages had been on the market, Alex saw the opportunity as too good to pass up: the three properties are based near the seaside in rural East Sussex and comprise a six bed house (previously used as a B&B) plus a pair of two bed cottages.

Unfortunately, a number of factors made the purchase difficult: 

• Alex’s own lack of experience in the holiday market counted against him
  
  
• The B&B had changed use, being rented out as a holiday let. There were no accounts to track the financial performance of the property following this change of use
  
  
• The property is Grade II listed
  
  
• Despite numerous potential purchasers, the property had gone unsold due to the inability of interested parties to secure finance
  
  

When Alex approached Swoop, we were confident that we could help where others had failed. Ann Marie Swift, Commercial Finance Manager at Swoop, carried out full research into the property finance market to secure the funding package needed at the most competitive rate available to the client and his specific set of circumstances.

Through this research, Ann Marie was able to identify a lender able to deliver despite the issues and challenges affecting the property and the situation of the borrower. 

Swoop liaised with agents of the vendor throughout to confirm progress and provide reassurance that the sale would happen despite the number of previous failures by other potential buyers. This liaison included contacting the lenders and their valuer on the day of valuation to ensure a positive result for our customer and answering legal questions raised throughout the process, from initial application all the way through to completion. 

The purchase was further complicated by the customer changing their loan requirement midway through the process. The loan therefore had to be restructured with a focus to retain the interest rate due to an LTV cap at the rate secured.

The result? Alex Dury told Swoop: 

“Ann Marie Swift has made the onerous process of securing a commercial mortgage on a complex plot an absolute pleasure. She always answered my many calls or returned them very quickly. All my queries were listened to and sorted with patience and professionalism, even my more daft ones.”

Ann Marie says: 

“For brokers who want to make a quick buck, it’s often easier to step away than pursue a challenging opportunity all the way to the end. I’m delighted that we were able to help Alex, as I felt sure we would be able to from the moment we started speaking. The team at Swoop wishes him all the best with his new holiday lets.”

We’ll give the last word to Alex:

“Thank you Ann Marie, you were the only broker who was prepared to take on the challenge of my complex purchase and without you I would not have completed.”