As of about 60 minutes ago, we had enough funds in the bank to pay for the building. I cannot tell you how happy and excited I am about this. It truly is a dream come true.
More than that though -- we've shown our city, our field, and the world what is possible. A few days ago I was talking with one of our lenders in the office. He thanked me for changing the way that people look at the world and expanding what people believe is possible. I was surprised and kind of embarrassed by the sentiment. I'm not some big deal mover-and-shaker; I'm just a guy who likes to sell books.
But then I thought about it a bit and pointed out to him that I didn't do that. We all did. My part was suggesting that the world could be different and that something kind of crazy might be possible. You all, our sponsors and the folks who lent us money and those that supported us in a hundred other ways, too -- you're the people who changed how people can look at the world and you expanded the idea of what is possible. And I would expect no less from lovers of speculative and fantastic literature.
First, you did it by being sponsors and allowing us to continue to operate. Then you proved that idea wasn't just a one-shot, flash-in-the-pan but that it was a viable idea for the long term (we have more sponsors this year than last year; the program is growing, not shrinking). Those things were the basis and foundation that gave me the confidence and hope to try what we just accomplished.
And we did this: 49 lenders in total, $1.9 million dollars, in 18 days.
Thank you all for making a dream come true and showing just how powerful a like-minded, reasonable group of people can be.
Warmest Regards,
Alan
PS There is one other group that deserves credit for what we've done -- the staff at the Bookstore and Cafe. They are so good at what they do that I hardly had to think about work for the past 18 days. Further, they are the people who truly give shape to Borderlands. I'd just be a lonely guy in a tiny bookshop without them.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Monday, October 30, 2017
Building Update #8 - Right Down to the Wire
Funds on Deposit - $1,777,500 Days Left - 1
Hello,
Of course this whole thing had to end up with a photo-finish. And, of course, this couldn't end on any day other than Halloween. I mean really . . . why did any of us think otherwise?
As you can see above, we are really, truly, awful goddam close. But we're not quite there yet.
I fully expect that I'll see one or two deposits at the bank tomorrow that will take us right across the $1.8 million line. As soon as I see them, I'll let you all know.
If I don't see those deposits, don't worry. I'm not going to let a measly $22,500 stop us after we've raised so much. That figure can be covered by the deposit reserve that I have at the store. It can also probably be covered if all of us at the bookstore clean out our rainy-day reserves. There are a dozen ways we can raise that in time.
But, dammit, I really hoped to be writing a different note today.
However, see my comment above -- it kind of had to work out this way.
As a good friend often says, "Now that's out of the way, how about a bright, shiny change of topic?"
What Do We Do First?
Dan, our realtor, asked me a couple days ago, "So, once escrow is closed and Bruce has his stuff out of there, what's the first thing you're going to do?"
In reply, I asked, "Do you mean in general or with the retail space?"
He chuckled and said he was asking about the retail space.
"First off, a lotta people, a lotta beer, a lotta whisky, and probably some pizza," was my answer.
Hello,
Of course this whole thing had to end up with a photo-finish. And, of course, this couldn't end on any day other than Halloween. I mean really . . . why did any of us think otherwise?
As you can see above, we are really, truly, awful goddam close. But we're not quite there yet.
I fully expect that I'll see one or two deposits at the bank tomorrow that will take us right across the $1.8 million line. As soon as I see them, I'll let you all know.
If I don't see those deposits, don't worry. I'm not going to let a measly $22,500 stop us after we've raised so much. That figure can be covered by the deposit reserve that I have at the store. It can also probably be covered if all of us at the bookstore clean out our rainy-day reserves. There are a dozen ways we can raise that in time.
But, dammit, I really hoped to be writing a different note today.
However, see my comment above -- it kind of had to work out this way.
As a good friend often says, "Now that's out of the way, how about a bright, shiny change of topic?"
What Do We Do First?
Dan, our realtor, asked me a couple days ago, "So, once escrow is closed and Bruce has his stuff out of there, what's the first thing you're going to do?"
In reply, I asked, "Do you mean in general or with the retail space?"
He chuckled and said he was asking about the retail space.
"First off, a lotta people, a lotta beer, a lotta whisky, and probably some pizza," was my answer.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Building Update #7
Funds on Deposit - 1,692,500 Days Left - 4
Greetings and Salutations,
You may notice that I've changed the heading at the top of this note from "Funds Raised" to "Funds on Deposit". The reason for that is we're really in the final days of this gig and it's reached a point where it doesn't matter what people have promised us -- the only thing that matters, for the sake of this project, is what is in the bank come Halloween. So, rather than including what people have said they're going to do, the number at the top of this note is only what is on deposit. Don't worry though, we're not out of time by any means. Even though today was the last day that I said would work for deposits, at the time I said I was allowing for a margin of error. We've still got four days. Wire transfers and cashiers checks will still be credited in time, even if they are wired (or handed off to me, for the checks), as late as the morning of the 31st.
Now that I've gotten the doom and gloom out of the way, here's the good news -- I'm almost sure we're gonna have the money in time.
I believe we're gonna get that building.
Greetings and Salutations,
You may notice that I've changed the heading at the top of this note from "Funds Raised" to "Funds on Deposit". The reason for that is we're really in the final days of this gig and it's reached a point where it doesn't matter what people have promised us -- the only thing that matters, for the sake of this project, is what is in the bank come Halloween. So, rather than including what people have said they're going to do, the number at the top of this note is only what is on deposit. Don't worry though, we're not out of time by any means. Even though today was the last day that I said would work for deposits, at the time I said I was allowing for a margin of error. We've still got four days. Wire transfers and cashiers checks will still be credited in time, even if they are wired (or handed off to me, for the checks), as late as the morning of the 31st.
Now that I've gotten the doom and gloom out of the way, here's the good news -- I'm almost sure we're gonna have the money in time.
I believe we're gonna get that building.
Building Update #6 - Very Close
Funds Raised - $1,622,500 Days Remaining - 4
Hello All,
Are you getting nervous? I am, sort of. We're very damn close to making it. Remember, I'm aiming for $1,900,000 to allow $100,000 for closing costs, build out and repairs. We can close the deal at $1.8 million. Which is $177,500 from where we are now.
I'm talking to a couple of people who might be able to do some bigger loans but I'm not going to hear from them 'till tomorrow. Well, 'til Friday, which is technically today. If I don't hear from them then, we might be able to come to an agreement on Saturday or Sunday but the funds can't move until Monday, when we have two days left. That'll make for a nervous weekend, eh?
But, here's the thing -- even if we don't pull it off this time, there'll be another building, and we've proven that we can raise over one and a half million dollars in less than three weeks.
One. And. A. Half. Million. Dollars.
That's a hell of an accomplishment and it'll serve us well if we have to do this again.
But I'm hoping we don't need to do this again. Honestly, I feel optimistic. We've done so much in the past week and we've got a whole weekend and two days ahead of us. Plus, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeves. Something that both my former profession and 20 years in this business has taught me is to have a back-up plan . . . and a back-up for that . . . and a back-up for the second back-up. Right now, we're still working on the primary plan, which is the one with the best overall outcome. But it's not the only plan.
Anyway, enough about that. Last word is this -- if you're on the fence, now's the time to decide if you want to make a loan. And, if you've talked with me about a loan and haven't finished off the deal, get in touch and let's get finished -- I'm totally fine with, "We thought about it and we decided that it's not a good idea" but, not knowing where we stand is kind of hard.
Hello All,
Are you getting nervous? I am, sort of. We're very damn close to making it. Remember, I'm aiming for $1,900,000 to allow $100,000 for closing costs, build out and repairs. We can close the deal at $1.8 million. Which is $177,500 from where we are now.
I'm talking to a couple of people who might be able to do some bigger loans but I'm not going to hear from them 'till tomorrow. Well, 'til Friday, which is technically today. If I don't hear from them then, we might be able to come to an agreement on Saturday or Sunday but the funds can't move until Monday, when we have two days left. That'll make for a nervous weekend, eh?
But, here's the thing -- even if we don't pull it off this time, there'll be another building, and we've proven that we can raise over one and a half million dollars in less than three weeks.
One. And. A. Half. Million. Dollars.
That's a hell of an accomplishment and it'll serve us well if we have to do this again.
But I'm hoping we don't need to do this again. Honestly, I feel optimistic. We've done so much in the past week and we've got a whole weekend and two days ahead of us. Plus, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeves. Something that both my former profession and 20 years in this business has taught me is to have a back-up plan . . . and a back-up for that . . . and a back-up for the second back-up. Right now, we're still working on the primary plan, which is the one with the best overall outcome. But it's not the only plan.
Anyway, enough about that. Last word is this -- if you're on the fence, now's the time to decide if you want to make a loan. And, if you've talked with me about a loan and haven't finished off the deal, get in touch and let's get finished -- I'm totally fine with, "We thought about it and we decided that it's not a good idea" but, not knowing where we stand is kind of hard.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Building Update #5
Funds Raised - $1,422,500 Days Remaining - 7
Hey Everyone,
OK. Much better rested than last night but I've got to run out of here fast because I'm meant to be at Churchill pretty much . . . now.
You're all wondering about the inspections. First off, they went well. We had general building and sewer inspections plus a roofer came in to give a bid for replacing the roof (no surprise -- the roof does need to be replaced, but we expected that).
The general building inspector was the best I've ever seen. His name is James Hicks and he is one of the partners at H.R. Wellington Construction. He's been a builder for years and he's qualified to do both general and pest inspections. He's also a medic and does volunteer search and rescue work, so we hit it off like a house-a-fire.
Bottom line is that it's a 1902 building with all that goes with it. A little bit of dry rot on the siding, old breaker panels (not hard to replace and not urgent), and so forth. The only two notable things were that the framing in the basement (that I mentioned to you all before) is, in fact, a bit funkier than I thought. It looks like the job of abating dry-rot that was done is the 1970s wasn't top-notch and probably needs some fixing. On the other hand, it didn't look like anything had moved much since that job was done, so this isn't one of those situation where a wall is tilting and going to keep tilting 'til it's fixed (or falls over). But, it is a big enough thing that I think we'll be talking with the seller about a price reduction to make up for it.
The other thing that he called out was that there are some cracks in the retaining walls in the backyard. There's a big tree that belongs to one of the neighbors that is right up against the wall and may be pushing on it.
Hey Everyone,
OK. Much better rested than last night but I've got to run out of here fast because I'm meant to be at Churchill pretty much . . . now.
You're all wondering about the inspections. First off, they went well. We had general building and sewer inspections plus a roofer came in to give a bid for replacing the roof (no surprise -- the roof does need to be replaced, but we expected that).
The general building inspector was the best I've ever seen. His name is James Hicks and he is one of the partners at H.R. Wellington Construction. He's been a builder for years and he's qualified to do both general and pest inspections. He's also a medic and does volunteer search and rescue work, so we hit it off like a house-a-fire.
Bottom line is that it's a 1902 building with all that goes with it. A little bit of dry rot on the siding, old breaker panels (not hard to replace and not urgent), and so forth. The only two notable things were that the framing in the basement (that I mentioned to you all before) is, in fact, a bit funkier than I thought. It looks like the job of abating dry-rot that was done is the 1970s wasn't top-notch and probably needs some fixing. On the other hand, it didn't look like anything had moved much since that job was done, so this isn't one of those situation where a wall is tilting and going to keep tilting 'til it's fixed (or falls over). But, it is a big enough thing that I think we'll be talking with the seller about a price reduction to make up for it.
The other thing that he called out was that there are some cracks in the retaining walls in the backyard. There's a big tree that belongs to one of the neighbors that is right up against the wall and may be pushing on it.
Building Update #4
Funds Raised - $1,292,500 Days Remaining - 8
Dear Sponsors,
I was planning to give you a detailed update about the building inspections today (yesterday, actually, since it's 1:58 am), but here it is already Tuesday morning, and I've been going since 7:30 am. I gotta say, I'm pretty beat. If I try to get into specifics about the inspections, I'm going to make word-salad. The short version is that the inspections went really well; better than I could have anticipated. I'm meeting my structural engineer and contractor to get some analysis and estimates on Wednesday and . . . . I'm going to tell you about the inspections tomorrow.
It was a good weekend for fund-raising as you can see. And that's it for building news 'til I get some sleep.
But, some event reminders before I go:
Dear Sponsors,
I was planning to give you a detailed update about the building inspections today (yesterday, actually, since it's 1:58 am), but here it is already Tuesday morning, and I've been going since 7:30 am. I gotta say, I'm pretty beat. If I try to get into specifics about the inspections, I'm going to make word-salad. The short version is that the inspections went really well; better than I could have anticipated. I'm meeting my structural engineer and contractor to get some analysis and estimates on Wednesday and . . . . I'm going to tell you about the inspections tomorrow.
It was a good weekend for fund-raising as you can see. And that's it for building news 'til I get some sleep.
But, some event reminders before I go:
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Building Update #3
Funds Raised - $825,000 Days Remaining - 11
Greetings,
I've got several bits of news, but I'll lead with the most important one.
Fund Raising
As you can see, the fund raising continues, albeit at a slower pace than at the start. The slow down makes sense, actually. At first, the loans were coming from people who were ready to go and, in some cases, they were people I had talked with in advance. Now, it's people who need more time to think about it and make arrangements. But, I'm not discouraged at all. $825,000 are only the loans that I'm sure of -- either the lender has committed to making the loan or the funds are already in the bank. There are another $400,000 in loans in which I'm still working out the final details for, but that I feel pretty confident about. Finally, there are some other lenders that I still need to reach out to personally. Bottom line, we're going to be close, but I'm not sure we're going to make by relying on only larger loans.
Considering that, I think it's time to open things up for smaller amounts. My initial reason for looking for larger loans was the desire to keep the number of people involved to a minimum so that my bookkeeping work would be more manageable. Not that it would be that big a job with 300 lenders but, I may have a few other things to work on in the coming months.
If you are in a position to offer a loan between $10,000 and $75,000, I'd love to talk with you about the details. The general terms of the loan are 3% interest paid annually and the loan to be paid back in nine years (but I could potentially pay it off earlier). The loans are secured by the building so they are pretty safe (barring a huge earthquake). There is room for changes if you would like them (e.g. interest rate can be as low as 2% or as high as 4%, interest can be paid quarterly, and the term can be shorter or longer) and the amount can be anything from $10,000 and up.
In terms of transferring the funds to me, there are a couple of different deadlines, depending on how the money is coming. Remember, if I don't have confirmed funds in the bank by October 31st, I'm going to have to cancel the deal. Since that is only 11 days away, the latest that a personal check is sure to work will be noon on Monday, the 23rd (unless the check is from Bank of America; I'll explain that in a second). Any later and the funds might not be confirmed by our bank in time for the 31st. Checks from Bank of America are an exception since that's where the company accounts are located and the confirmation is instant. As a result, BofA checks could be as late as Friday, the 27th. Electronic fund transfers should be sent by Thursday, the 26th, to be safe. Cashier's checks and wire transfers can be delivered to me (in the case of cashier's checks) or sent (in the case of wire transfers) by Friday, the 27th. All those dates are erring on the safe side but that's how I'd prefer to err.
As you can see, we need to move pretty quickly if this is going to work out. I am available to meet with you anytime and anyplace in San Francisco to discuss details or to pick up checks. I'm also available anytime by phone at 415 385-5968 to answer questions or merely discuss the loan. If there is any information that will assist your decision, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll also be around the shop all day tomorrow (Saturday) if you want to drop by and chat.
One last thing -- if the deal doesn't work out for any reason, I'll be returning the loan amounts with interest to date, within a week of October 31st, two weeks at the outside.
Greetings,
I've got several bits of news, but I'll lead with the most important one.
Fund Raising
As you can see, the fund raising continues, albeit at a slower pace than at the start. The slow down makes sense, actually. At first, the loans were coming from people who were ready to go and, in some cases, they were people I had talked with in advance. Now, it's people who need more time to think about it and make arrangements. But, I'm not discouraged at all. $825,000 are only the loans that I'm sure of -- either the lender has committed to making the loan or the funds are already in the bank. There are another $400,000 in loans in which I'm still working out the final details for, but that I feel pretty confident about. Finally, there are some other lenders that I still need to reach out to personally. Bottom line, we're going to be close, but I'm not sure we're going to make by relying on only larger loans.
Considering that, I think it's time to open things up for smaller amounts. My initial reason for looking for larger loans was the desire to keep the number of people involved to a minimum so that my bookkeeping work would be more manageable. Not that it would be that big a job with 300 lenders but, I may have a few other things to work on in the coming months.
If you are in a position to offer a loan between $10,000 and $75,000, I'd love to talk with you about the details. The general terms of the loan are 3% interest paid annually and the loan to be paid back in nine years (but I could potentially pay it off earlier). The loans are secured by the building so they are pretty safe (barring a huge earthquake). There is room for changes if you would like them (e.g. interest rate can be as low as 2% or as high as 4%, interest can be paid quarterly, and the term can be shorter or longer) and the amount can be anything from $10,000 and up.
In terms of transferring the funds to me, there are a couple of different deadlines, depending on how the money is coming. Remember, if I don't have confirmed funds in the bank by October 31st, I'm going to have to cancel the deal. Since that is only 11 days away, the latest that a personal check is sure to work will be noon on Monday, the 23rd (unless the check is from Bank of America; I'll explain that in a second). Any later and the funds might not be confirmed by our bank in time for the 31st. Checks from Bank of America are an exception since that's where the company accounts are located and the confirmation is instant. As a result, BofA checks could be as late as Friday, the 27th. Electronic fund transfers should be sent by Thursday, the 26th, to be safe. Cashier's checks and wire transfers can be delivered to me (in the case of cashier's checks) or sent (in the case of wire transfers) by Friday, the 27th. All those dates are erring on the safe side but that's how I'd prefer to err.
As you can see, we need to move pretty quickly if this is going to work out. I am available to meet with you anytime and anyplace in San Francisco to discuss details or to pick up checks. I'm also available anytime by phone at 415 385-5968 to answer questions or merely discuss the loan. If there is any information that will assist your decision, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll also be around the shop all day tomorrow (Saturday) if you want to drop by and chat.
One last thing -- if the deal doesn't work out for any reason, I'll be returning the loan amounts with interest to date, within a week of October 31st, two weeks at the outside.
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