$2.5M Construction Takeout: New Ocean View Residence

The Borrower's Problem

The borrowing entity — an LLC run by an experienced local developer — had just completed a high-end single-family residence on a coastal Carlsbad lot acquired several years earlier. The construction loan of $2,100,000 was reaching the end of its term while only minor landscaping remained, and the house needed to be marketed properly rather than dumped. At the same time, the borrower's separate operating business had a client build to fund and needed working capital.

Bank financing was not a fit: the property was newly built, vacant, unstabilized with no income history, and about to be listed for sale — exactly the profile conventional lenders decline or stall on for months.

The Helvetica Solution

Helvetica underwrote to the finished value and the exit, not to tax returns. A $2,500,000 first mortgage was structured on a completed appraised value of $5,300,000 — a conservative 47% loan-to-value with a personal guarantee. Proceeds retired the maturing construction loan in full and released $300,000 of business-purpose cash out to the borrower's other company.

The loan was written interest-only over 12 months so carrying costs stayed predictable while the home sat on the market, with payoff expected from the sale — a marketing window comfortably inside the roughly 108-day local absorption period and a 99%+ price-to-list ratio in the neighborhood.

Benefit to the Borrower

• Maturing construction loan retired before it became a default
• $300,000 in business-purpose cash out unlocked from existing equity
• Interest-only payments kept holding costs low while the home was listed
• No income documentation required on a vacant, unstabilized asset
• Sale timed to the market instead of a lender deadline — protecting sale price
• Roughly $2.8M of equity preserved at a 47% LTV

Deal Highlights

• New construction takeout
• Bridge to sale
• Cash-out refinance for business purposes
• Vacant, unstabilized collateral
• Coastal San Diego County