My Opportunity

Last year about this time I was out of work for the first time in my life. Just for a very short time as it turned out. I thought then, “this is my chance to do what I really want to do, open a restaurant.” 

I diligently worked to find a location, find used kitchen equipment, develop a menu, get all my paperwork for the business license, liquor license, etc., etc., in order. I was ready to go, to start my small business, the engine of the American economy. I only had one problem. No institution would lend me start-up capital Note, I have a GREAT credit score, well over 765. One lender even laughed at me, saying, “Oh, we don’t do independents.”

I didn’t need much money. I could have borrowed the same amount for a luxury car and would have had lenders scrambling to give me the money. But no one would lend me money, not to open a business, which could have given eight or 10 people jobs.

Now I see on my street, and the streets next to mine, houses that have been vacant for well over 18 months, maybe more. City notices, bank notices, and big orange stickers all over the doors. Lawns not being kept to neighborhood standards. Not nuisances, but not appealing. My daughter and her new husband would love to move back into the neighborhood. I thought I am a professional with a good job, I should be able to get financing. I could probably even put 15-20 percent down. I could buy one, rent it to my daughter and son-in-law, help improve neighborhood, and have a small investment for later when I retire.

But, guess what? No financial institutions will lend money for rental property.