INTERVIEW WITH TONY CORDATO

Glenn: Tony Cordato, welcome. Tell us a little about your background.

AJC: I am a Sydney (Australia) CBD based lawyer, with a passion for business, property and tourism law.

Glenn: You are the principal of Cordato Partners, Lawyers, tell us about the services you offer.

AJC: We act for property investors, business owners and tourism operators. We assist in transactional work, advisory work and dispute resolution / litigation.

Glenn: How does Cordato Partners differ from other firms?

AJC: We love to take on difficult assignments and solving problems with creative but legally sound strategies. Being a boutique firm we are nimble and swift and cost effective!

Glenn: In previous discussions you have been an advocate of “seller financing”, could you fill us in on what seller financing is?

AJC: Seller Finance is also known as vendor finance. Seller finance 'greases the wheels' of property and business sales, by providing a solution to allow the sale to go ahead where a Bank or other financier is unable to provide the funds to the buyer to pay the seller the price the seller requires.

Glenn: Cordato Partners also specialises in Vendor Financing (also known as Wrap Transactions or Sale by Instalment Contract). Could you provide a brief description of what Vendor Financing is?

AJC: There are three main seller finance techniques that can be used.

The first is to wrap around an existing loan a new loan to the purchaser, which is documented as an Instalment Contract (also known as a Terms Contract or Wrap Contract).
The second is to give the purchaser the opportunity to 'look and see' by allowing them into the property at an above market rent and then crediting the above market part of the rent towards the price, which is documented as a lease with an option (this is a rent to own or rent to buy technique).
The third is to sell with some carry back finance, which is documented by a loan agreement or second mortgage (this is a deposit finance technique).

Glenn: How Can Cordato Partners assist investors with either Vendor Financing Transactions or Seller Financing?

AJC: We prepare the documents for the seller financing techniques. We are the premier legal firm in that field in Australia, assisting in hundreds of vendor finance transactions each year. We tie in with the Vendor Finance Association and with Rick Otton's No Money Down Bootcamps.

Glenn: Tony, thank you for your time. We’ll keep an eye out for your future posts on VC or Bust.

Source – Interview by Glenn Matthews for VC or Bust website 29 October 2009