Everwick Lending Group, a small-business funding service in Pontiac, Michigan, explains how Oakland County hotel and motel owners fund renovations and furniture, fixtures and equipment without a new mortgage: what FF&E includes, how costs break down, which funding types fit each part, and what a partner reads, with a worked example.
Funding a hotel refresh without a new mortgage in Oakland County, MI
A property mortgage pays for the building. A renovation is paid for in parts: movable furniture and equipment through equipment financing, built-in work such as bathrooms and corridors through a term loan, and payroll and operating costs while rooms are closed through working capital. Each part has its own collateral and its own records.
Oakland County had 164 hotel and motel employers with 3,381 employees and $110.3 million in payroll in 2023 (Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023), and 198 lodging businesses without payroll in 2024, which reported about $55,328 in receipts each on average (our arithmetic from Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024).
What Is Included in FF&E? The Short Answer for Pontiac, MI
FF&E stands for furniture, fixtures and equipment: the movable items in a hotel that are not part of the building itself.
- Case goods: beds, nightstands, desks, dressers and wardrobes
- Soft goods: mattresses, carpet, drapes, bedding and upholstery
- Lighting and decor
- Televisions and in-room technology
- Lobby, breakfast area and fitness room furniture
- Back-of-house equipment such as laundry machines
Plumbing fixtures, wall finishes and built-in millwork sit on the line between FF&E and the building. Hotels track them as renovation or capital work instead, and partners may class them the same way.
What Are FF&E Costs in Pontiac, MI?
FF&E costs depend on the brand standard, the room count and how much is replaced. No per-room price can be quoted here. Owners budget by category: case goods, soft goods, bathrooms, technology and public areas, plus delivery, installation and disposal of the old items.
Illustration only, invented figures: a 72-room hotel budgets per room $4,200 for case goods, $2,600 for soft goods, $3,900 for bathroom work and $900 for technology, $11,600 per room and $835,200 in all (our arithmetic). In this invented example the movable items come to $554,400 and the bathroom work to $280,800 (our arithmetic).
Pontiac, MI Business Loans for a Hotel Business
For the movable items, equipment financing uses the furniture and equipment as security. In this invented example, financing $554,400 at a 10% annual rate over 60 months would mean a payment of about $11,779. The bathroom work becomes part of the building, so it fits a term loan instead.
A partner reads occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room month by month, the bank statements, the franchise agreement and any brand-mandated improvement plan, and the renovation schedule.
Business Loans for Hotels and Resorts: What Pontiac, MI Owners Should Know
Business loans for hotels and resorts differ from property loans in one way that matters: the mortgage lender may already hold a claim on the furniture and equipment. Read the mortgage documents for limits on other debt, and tell the partner about the mortgage at the start. The hotel loans page covers the operating side in more depth.
Keeping rooms selling during the work
Phasing a renovation floor by floor keeps some rooms in inventory while others are closed. The partner reads the phase plan against the room count, because revenue falls in proportion to the rooms out of service. A line of credit can carry payroll and costs through the phases and be paid down as rooms return.
In this invented example, closing 12 of the 72 rooms at a time keeps 60 selling, or 83.3% of inventory (our arithmetic).
Working capital while rooms are out of service
Payroll, utilities, franchise fees and loan payments continue while rooms are closed. Working capital or a line of credit carries those costs through the phases and is paid down as rooms return to inventory. A partner reads the phase plan, the revenue the open rooms earn and the costs that keep running.
In this invented example, the hotel plans six phases of 12 rooms and asks for a line sized to the revenue lost from the closed rooms during each phase, drawn as each phase starts and paid down as it ends. The owner keeps the draw schedule with the renovation calendar so the partner can match one to the other.
- Phase plan with dates and room counts
- Monthly revenue per available room for the past year
- Fixed costs that run during the work
- Contractor and FF&E delivery schedule
A checklist before an Oakland County, MI hotel renovation request
- Get the brand's improvement plan or your own scope, with deadlines.
- Price FF&E by category, with delivery, installation and disposal.
- Separate built-in work from movable items in the budget.
- Pull twelve months of occupancy and rate reports and bank statements.
- Read the mortgage and franchise documents for debt limits.
- Dial (248) 301-1846 with the room count and scope, or use the request form.
The Pontiac, MI business data page has the county's Census figures for context.
By Everwick Lending Group · Updated
