Thanks so much for creating this forum topic. I always get inspired by the deal of the month when it is live at OREIO events, and thought I'd share something with you today because it includes struggle and triumph.

My wife is President of Armour Development Inc. and Armour has been acquiring properties over the past 3 years. I've built up my expertise in negotiating 'vendor take back' (VTB) mortgages to maximize the number of properties we can acquire. 

Here is a success story about refinancing a VTB.

We have a property, with a VTB, that required a refinance. The private mortgage lender had become ill and could not continue as he was wrapping up his affairs. We called a few potential lenders, and because the property is mixed commercial-residential and outside of Ottawa traditional commercial lenders were not interested. The loan-to-value ratio just didn't work out for them, or Armour. We had already put $40K cash down on the property, and to get a commercial mortgage, we needed to fork over an additional $50K! 

So much time and effort, so many discussions with mortgage brokers, and a lot of frustration....and finally I met Sebastien Charles, a member of OREIO and a very smart mortgage broker. 

Within days, Sebastien found a private lender to do the deal. The financing is about to close and a lot of frustration and dead-end discussions with lenders turned into an opportunity between Armour and Sebastien.

Armour has learned something from this process:

- relationships can be built with the private lenders, those who hold the VTBs, and the mortgage brokers.

- financing can take many arduous months, and can also happen at lightening speed.

- we remain on target to attract the right investors and RRSP investors to continue our acquisition and development strategy.

Let me know if you have any questions, especially about building a narrative with a vendor to negotiate a VTB. I've done 6 successfully.

John