Antonio is far from a real estate investing newbie. Over the past five years he’s purchased multiple properties in the U.S. while living abroad. Even with many deals under his belt, Antonio’s rental property purchase experience remained frustrating to say the least. He became accustomed to jumping through hoops and got used to hearing “no” from lenders. When he discovered Waltz, Antonio thought that the concept of an end-to-end lender who worked with foreign nationals sounded “too good to be true.” Now that he’s closed a deal with Waltz, it’s clear that the hype was real.
Antonio is a software engineer by trade. As someone with a deep curiosity and a passion for learning, Antonio is always looking for new ways to grow. In 2019, while still relatively new to the world of real estate, he decided to venture into property investing in the U.S. watching his friend start a portfolio. What started as a small interest quickly turned into a full-fledged passion.
Originally from Colombia, he’s lived all over the world from Russia and Sweden to Israel. When remote work became more common in 2020, Antonio decided to become a digital nomad. While traveling across the globe, he remained focused on his long-term vision of strategically acquiring rental properties in the U.S.
As Antonio began scaling, he quickly learned that many lenders were hesitant to work with foreign nationals. Most people would give up. Antonio found creative ways to adapt–leading him to find Waltz. With foreign investor-friendly financing in place, he continues to scale and now has properties in multiple cities in the U.S.
Antonio knew that he wanted to expand his real estate portfolio beyond his original holdings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After researching a number of markets, he decided to focus on the greater St. Louis, Missouri area. This metro area still has low property prices relative to the rent that he could charge. With a new strategy and a great real estate agent to find him deals, it was time to buy another investment property.
Antonio found a roughly 1,300 square foot single-family investment property in Florissant, Missouri– just northwest of St. Louis. The 5-bedroom, 3-bathroom property would appeal to renters with large families and could also be rented by the room. Either way, Antonio felt that this property was at a great value and had strong cash flow potential.
With a great deal under contract, all that was left to do was find a lender that could bring this deal to the finish line.
Inspired by Antonio's story? See more success stories here.
One of the core reasons people invest in real estate is the opportunity to use leverage. With only a 25% down payment, you can control 100% of a property– this allows investors to scale. Instead of just buying one property in cash, you can spread it out to multiple properties using this concept.
Antonio understood this in theory, but he found it difficult to scale any faster than he already was. The reason? His biggest challenge was getting access to reliable financing.
Until finding Waltz, Antonio was avoiding mortgages altogether by taking personal loans abroad and using the cash to buy real estate. Eventually, Antonio recalls, “I hit a wall.” That led him to seek mortgage financing with American lenders. As he began calling lenders, these were some of Antonio’s main frustrations:
No U.S. track record: Living outside of the U.S., Antonio didn’t have a FICO credit score. This, plus the additional paperwork required to verify him as a legitimate investor were exhausting and often resulted in a “no.” Antonio noted that “I had a terrible experience trying to get a loan. No one in the U.S. wanted to talk to me.”
Lack of speed: Many lenders were used to dealing with U.S. clients and didn’t have experience working with foreign nationals. This led to further questioning and added inefficiency to an already slow process. “Just when it seems like the process is over, they always ask for more information,” Antonio mentioned.
The LLC and EIN process: When getting an investment property loan, lenders require the loan to be in the business’ name (LLC). They also require investors to have an Employer Identification Number EIN tied to the LLC for tax and banking purposes. Setting up an LLC can be time consuming, but getting an EIN takes even longer because it happens after the LLC is filed. Antonio needed both an LLC and EIN to close on his Florissant, Missouri property; he summarized this situation by saying “when you have a good deal, you need to move fast. That seemed impossible.”
Antonio came across Waltz when talking to a friend. Given his past experience with other mortgage companies, he was skeptical that he could even get a loan. After getting “different quotes from other lenders, I looked at the numbers. Waltz gave me the best quote when factoring in all components of the loan such as interest rate, terms, and flexibility,” said Antonio.
To his amazement, the entire mortgage and closing process only took 25 days. Waltz made a formerly challenging process into an enjoyable experience. When asked how Waltz was able to do this, he cited these reasons:
Lightning speed: Coming from the startup world where speed is everything, Antonio felt that “Waltz has a startup mindset. They work to make things happen rather than make excuses.” Waltz streamlined the process by collecting all the necessary documentation up front. In fact, Antonio was grateful at how little documentation was required compared to other lenders.
Impressive problem-solving skills: Each real estate transaction is unique. There’s always something that comes up– it’s just a matter of anticipating it and resolving it in a timely manner. When asked about problems in the closing process, Antonio said “anytime there was a potential problem, Waltz quickly resolved it to keep closing on track.” An example of this was when he needed to set up a Missouri LLC with an EIN. Originally, Antonio tried to do this himself. When he realized that it could delay the deal, he used Waltz’s Investor Kit and received an LLC with an EIN within minutes.
Excellent communication: Responsiveness was a key quality that Antonio was looking for in his lender. Everyone needs to be on the same page in order to have a smooth closing. With Waltz, he felt like he had a teammate: “my experience with Waltz was amazing. Communication is super important to me, especially living abroad. The entire process with Waltz was transparent and clear, nothing was ever left to assumption.”
Now that Antonio has successfully completed a deal with Waltz, he feels confident that he’s found a reliable lending partner for all his future real estate investments. As he begins scouting new properties to add to his growing portfolio, he knows that he can move fast when he finds a great deal.
