Tag Archives: repo heavy equipment

Go for repo heavy equipment to get them cheap

There are basically two to three ways to get heavy equipment at cheaper rate. The first one is to buy used machines that was with one owner for a long period of time and then went on to other and now again getting resold to you. So when the heavy equipment changes hands the price diminishes. This was one of the scenarios. However, in the first scenario the quality of machine is not at all up to the mark and you feel that it is better that you go for something that works faster than this. Heavy equipment that are faulty are also sold at a cheaper rate. The owner of the heavy equipment for some reason do not want to spend on the fixture of the machine and therefore would like to sell it at a lesser price so that the prospective buyer can take the onus to change the parts that has ceased to work and get it up and running. This was the second scenario and it is accepted by people who have technical knowhow of the machine. Rest does not want to get themselves involved in this.

The third and probably the most accepted scenario is buying heavy equipment from banks at cheaper rate. Now the question is from when banks started selling heavy equipment. Well, they are not here to sell construction machines but are bothered about getting their money back by selling the stuff at a dirt cheap price. What ideally happens is they sell repo machines. The heavy equipment whose monthly installments are not paid and the primary owner of the machine also does not have any intention to pay the money are repossessed by the banks who then auction it so that they can make up the cost by selling it in the open market.

Are there any buyers for repo construction equipment? Well there are plenty of contractors, rental houses and construction companies who are always on hunt of such deals. They have their men working in close nexus with the guys in the repo team who informs them about such machines and when the banks will auction them. Once they get the news about the auction, they keep the money ready. They know that they have to be there with the money and bag the deal. Some contractors even have tie-ups with banks who facilitates the machines at cheaper price. They obviously take some cut from the deal. This may not be as per the guidelines of the bank but things happen and this is how it works out there.

Almost all kinds of heavy equipment can be repossessed by banks as long as they are not paid by the owner. Many a time, in order to save their machine from getting repo, people take another loan with higher interest rate and pay the dues. But that can have a strong repercussion on them as they have to end up paying more to the other lender.

Repo heavy equipment can be bought at a lower price

Be it for business or for personal use we are often reluctant to buy expensive items as it can put us into a financial mess. In order to buy expensive equipment a lot of planning needs to be done in advance. A company needs to set up a strategy where they will allocate funds to buy items needs for business and then will spend accordingly. They will never want to move an inch away from their budget but will do so only if it really requires. It is however tough to follow a stringent budget but does small companies really have an option. The answer is no.

In the construction sector, small companies have a hard time in dealing with their finances when it comes to buying heavy equipment. Heavy equipment are expensive items and small construction companies normally have to hunt for lenders who can lend them money to buy the machines. If the business runs the way it is expected then the company can pay off the loan without any hassle. But the reality is always different from what we plan and if your business does not perform the way you have expected it to then you are encountered with more grave issues. If you are unable to pay the monthly installments of your heavy equipment in time then the lender has every right to repossess the heavy equipment from you and sell it in auction.

Having said this, there is also a flip side to the entire episode. There are definitely lenders who have lend money to plenty of small construction companies and contractors and out of the many there may be few who could not end up paying the money. Quite evidently, their heavy equipment are repossessed by the bank and this gives you the opportunity to become a part of the auction and buy the machine at a dirt cheap price. Now the challenge here is that you will not be informed about such auction via any media. It does not come in newspaper or any such media. People want to keep it as clandestine at they can so that less people turn up at the event and the ones who are there can buy more machines at a cheaper rate.

What you got to do is keep your eyes and ears open to such auctions. You can even approach one such lender whom you know deals with lending money to small construction companies. They will be in a position to tell you if they will carry any auction in the near future. The next reliable source is the guys who tow heavy equipment from the borrower. They might give you a brief idea about the venue and the date.

Heavy equipment that are repo by banks are sold at a far cheaper rate. This is done so that the banks are able to recover the money that they have lent and do not run into loss.

The right way to repo heavy equipment

Heavy equipment are usually expensive materials and not many can afford to buy them by paying hard cash. The small contractors or small construction companies usually find it very difficult to arrange money to buy equipment but if they have no other option they approach a bank or some financial institution that lends them the money to buy the stuff. Now that they have possessed the machine, the next difficult task for them is to keep on with the monthly payments and any defaults with the payments may cost them the machine. Well, the loan system works this way. You borrow money from the lender and promise to pay the entire sum along with interest at regular intervals. Till the time you do not clear off the debt, the lender holds lien on the equipment. This means that if you fail to pay money to the bank, then it has complete right and authority to take possession of your equipment.

This really sounds harsh but people all across the United States have to go through this phase in some or the other time in their lives. Having said that, no lender ever wants to repo heavy equipment and they use this as the last resort. Lenders simply want their money back with the interest amount that the borrower has committed to pay. Just in case, if they find the borrower is unable to pay the installments they try to establish contact with the borrower to check if he is going through any financial turbulence. They try to sort things out with the borrower and if they find that he is unable or just unwilling to pay then they go for the repo; which means they send the guys to tow the machine from the borrower’s place so that it can be sold a dirt cheap price to someone else and in this process they can get their money back.

The process is quite simple. If the borrower is unable or unwilling to pay the loan, the lender brings the repo guys in the picture and then they got everything to do from there. They will track the item give the notice to the borrower where it will clearly state that they are taking away the machine since he was not able to pay the debts in time and after repeated reminders when he failed to show up with the money, the lender which has the first lien on the item is finally forced to take it back. The repo guys get some money based on the kind of stuff they would be towing. For instance, if they tow heavy equipment, then they get their fee based on the weight of the machine.

Before the repo guys can tow the machine, they got to be careful that they are towing the right equipment and not the one that belongs to somebody else’s. They need to check the Serial Number and accordingly tow the machine. They also need to inform the local police so that if the owner of the machine gives a call to the police, the authorities could explain him the matter. Once they repo the equipment, they keep the stuff in their storage facility or simply hand it over to their clients.