Hello all!
I took out a business loan in 2018 of $1.5M, which was 5.5%. The balance is around $450K, so the interest is 11% as of today. I reached out to our lender, and they are willing to shave off .25%, which is nothing, and option two is to lower the payment by adding an additional ten years. So, interest will accumulate. The payment will go in half or even lower. I will carry a long-term debt. But I can make a larger payment toward the principal and free up some cash flow when I have large sums of money. Business is doing well, and I can make the current payment with no problem, but watching so much cash flow going towards interest and payment is not sitting well with me. Also, my debt ratio is good; unfortunately, SBA products are hard to convert to traditional loans. So basically, my bank is saying hey, look, there is a way to lower your payment, but you will pay more interest when all is set and done. I told them I might sell the business one day before the date and could walk away with the asking price and valuation.
I really don’t know what to do. I can make monthly payments with no problem, but it’s just insane to watch 11% toward interest. If I take the lower payment road and let them review my statement, etc., I can free up some cash.
At least the interest is tax deductible. That brings the effective rate down quite a bit, assuming your business is profitable from a tax standpoint.
Since your lender will let you extend the term, you should probably do it but keep paying the same amount and only drop your payment down if you hit a cash flow crunch. I personally tried to get out from under my SBA debt as quickly as possible given it was personally guaranteed.