Big Red Car here. Wanted to go out for coffee with The Boss but he had something on his mind and made pancakes and bacon at home instead. That always puts The Boss in a good mood but only on Saturdays.
So he took a phone call this morning and got talking about “whip out”.
Now, stop right here and tell the Big Red Car if you have ever heard that term before. Be honest. If you have, then the second question is — what is whip out?
Whip Out Defined
So you own a big office building and you spent $70,000,000 building it. A building like this one.
About five years after you finished it and got it leased up your cash flow is approximately $10,000,000 per year. You did great.
The rent roll and the cash flow are stable and predictable and you have a mix of good credit tenants and regional tenants and you are happy with the result. All operating expenses are passed along to the tenants through the net leases you have signed. Life is good.
You put a mortgage on it and were able to finance about 70% of the long term value. The lender agreed that the building was worth $120,000,000 — $10,000,000 capitalized at 8% cap rate. So, at $120,000,000 value you could borrow 70% or $84,000,000.
Cash flow annually – $10,000,000
Cap rate – 8%
Value – $120,000,000
Total investment – $70,000,000
Phantom equity – $50,000,000
Mortgage amount – $84,000,000
So you have a new $84,000,000 mortgage to refinance the original $70,000,000 construction loan and mini-perm loan (bit of equity invested to get the original loan but we are just glossing over that for the purpose of this discussion) that you used to build the building in the first place.
Bottom line — $14,000,000 in excess loan proceeds.
And, that, my friend is the whip out. The amount of excess proceeds that you can generate by refinancing an existing loan on better terms. And whip out is your friend. A fickle friend to be sure but a damn good friend when you can find him.
Friend: Hey, Big Red Car, I see you refinanced your building downtown. Any whip out?
BRC: Yes, my friend, $14,000,000.
Friend: Hey, Big Red, you buying the Q today, right?
BRC: Damn straight, friend.
Whip Out Used Wisely
So there you stand with $14,000,000 in whip out and you ask yourself — what the Hell should I do with this whip out? Think it over slowly, it is not a timed test of any kind. Whip out requires a bit of thinking.
Remember it is tax free. <<< This is the thing those geniuses in Washington don’t get — rich folks are not stupid, they are going to refinance assets and use the whip out tax free, they are not going to sell stuff and pay capital gains taxes. Whip out is tax free. And the estate planning strategies which will be based on this fact are myriad. Rich folks are not stupid.
So, you spend $1,000,000 on doo da — lakehouse, boat, airplane, beach house. Yes, you have earned some doo da and it should initially be focused on your family, bringing them closer together like only a lake house, a beach house or a ski joint can do. But do not go nuts, just a nice little one the first time around.
AND THEN YOU SAVE THE REST for future, education, retirement and stuff that goes bump in the night. You take it out of the game, you do NOT reinvest it in your business. You do not act like an NBA point guard or a NFL quarterback and spend it expecting you can count on a lot more future whip out. Making money should not be the prelude to going bankrupt.
Whip out can also be used to pay off all your debts — college loans, mortgages, personal debt. Is that going to make you feel better? Yes, says the Big Red Car, it will.
Did I mention that you pay more than a passing glance to getting the whip out beyond the reach of your creditors through legal organization or other legal means? Well, you do exactly that.
Whip Out’s Kissing Cousins
So, you are an entrepreneur who has built a nice startup and taught it to walk and do other tricks and the opportunity presents itself in one of the rounds of financing to “whip out” some liquidity by selling a few shares into the financing — you do it and you treat it like whip out because it is a blood relative.
You are an investor and one of your prize Shih Tzus hits a bit so that you can sell a few shares and get your bait back — putting you in the envious position of spinning the wheel with only the house’s money on the felt. You treat that like whip out and you make that sale.
Things You Do Not Do With Whip Out
When in the frame of mind to be able to see both the pay window and the notion of whip out at the same time, there are some things you do not do:
1. You do not take whip out and reinvest it in assets or vehicles which are as risky as the investment from whence the whip out came. You sweep the whip out off the table and you do not risk it again. Ever.
2. You do not expose the whip out to other risks like creditor accessible investments. No, you go see your estate lawyer and get it beyond the reach of creditors.
3. You do not tell your spouse about the extent of the whip out beyond the fact that she can start looking at lake/beach/ski houses and that it will not be a problem to get the kids teeth looked at by that fancy dentist.
4. You never commingle your personal finances, your business finances and your whip out account. Not ever.
5. You never tell anyone about your whip out except if it is a Big Red Car. A Big Red Car will respect your confidentiality and will never tell anyone about your whip out.
Stuff You Will Not Learn at Wharton
So, do you like the idea of whip out? I knew you would.
Respect whip out, because it will not come along but every so often.
You should also understand that “whip out” is a technical financial term and though they may call it something else at Wharton, it is the real deal.
The rules for whip out are very simple. Respect them.
But, hey, what the Hell do I know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.
Be good to yourself and your family. Call you Mom and Dad this weekend.
