Commercial Loans and Fun Blog

If you need a commercial real estate loan, to whom should you submit your deal?  What kinds of lenders are making commercial loans today? 

There is a pecking order in the commercial financing industry.  The lenders with the very best commercial mortgage rates cream the market.  If a commercial loan won't qualify with the very cheapest commercial lender, the commercial mortgage deal then goes to the commercial lender with the next best commercial mortgage rates - and so on.  The pecking order is as follows:  life insurance companies, conduits (CMBS lenders), banks, savings banks and S&L's (known as thrifts), credit unions, mortgage REIT's, and finally hard money lenders.

Most mortals will never qualify for a commercial loan from a life insurance company.  Life companies, as they are called in the language of commercial mortgage finance, will seldom make commercial mortgage loans of less than $5 million.  The property either has to be almost brand new or located in a fllthy-rich commercial area, like in the financial district of Downtown San Francisco.  Life companies usually limit their commercial loans to just 50% to 55% loan-to-value, and they will not allow second mortgages behind their loans.  This means that a commercial property buyer would have to put down a minimum of 45% of the purchase price.  Yikes.  Like I said, few mortals will ever qualify for a commercial loan from a life company.

Assuming you're a mortal like me, let's move on to the class of commercial lenders with the next best commercial mortgage rates - the conduits.  Conduits, also known as CMBS lenders, make large commercial first mortgages exclusively on very standard commercial properties - multifamily, office, retail, and industrial.  Conduits will also occasionally make loans on hospitality properties (hotels).  Like life companies, conduits prefer loans of larger than $5 million, although they will occasionally finance deals as small as $3 million.  Unlike the life companies, the commercial property does not have to be gorgeous or almost brand new.  Bread-and-butter commercial buildings will often qualify.  The typical conduit loan will have a terrific interest rate, just 30 to 50 basis points higher than that of a life company.  Loan-to-value ratios as high as 65% LTV are possible, and conduits will allow mezzanine financing behind their loans, as long as the "mezz piece" is arranged at the same time the permanent loan is arranged.

Commercial banks have the third-best commercial mortgage rates, and banks are making, by far, the largest number of new commercial real estate loans.  In fact, at least 75 out of every 100 new commercial loans originated in the last year were originated by a commercial bank.  Commercial banks will make commercial real estate loans as small as $150,000 to as large as $50 million or more.  The property needs to be functional and leased, but it does NOT have to be beautiful.  The borrower must be clean and strong, and it helps a lot if he has lots of cash in the bank.  Banks will even finance business properties, like motels, restaurants, and bowling alleys, as long as they are successful.

Savings banks and savings and loan associations (thrifts) are making very few commercial real estate loans today - so few that they are not even worth discussing.

I lied to you earlier.  I told you that commercial banks have the third-best commercial mortgage rates.  There is actually a class of commercial real estate lenders that has even better commercial mortgage rates than banks - credit unions.  Credit unions are brand new to the commercial real estate financing arena, and they have rates that are 30 to 40 basis points cheaper than commercial banks.  They will finance business properties, like self storage facilities and motels.  Credit unions have two important limitations - the property must be located close to the credit union and the maximum loan that you're likely to get from a credit union is around $1 million.  Credit unions only do small deals.

There are only two commercial mortgage REIT's actively making commercial real estate loans today, and their rates are no better than those of any other hard money lender.

Hard money lenders are making lots of commercial loans today.  Hard money lenders make one-to-three year bridge loans at high rates and high points.  Sometimes a borrower simply needs the money, perhaps to inject into his struggling company.  In such a case, hard money lenders, like Blackburne & Sons (my own company), can be very helpful.  Hard money commercial lenders will often make loans to borrowers with poor credit and/or struggling businesses, up to around 65% loan-to-value.

Bottom line:  Most commercial loans today are being written by either commercial banks or hard money lenders.  You can submit your commercial loan to 750 different commercial lenders in just four minutes using C-Loans.com   And C-Loans is free!

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Before condominiums became popular, co-ops were often used to buy real estate collectively, especially in New York City and Florida.  A co-op is a corporation that owns a piece of real estate, usually an apartment building or a mobile home park.

The individual owner would not own the airspace (for apartments) or the land (under his mobile home) encompassing his residential unit.  Instead, the individual owner would own a share, or several shares, in the corporation that owns the apartment tower or the mobile home park.  Along with the share(s) comes the exclusive right to lease a particular apartment or mobile home park pad.

Each month the individual owner is responsible for paying his lease payment and his own mortgage payment, if the individual owner used bank financing to buy his shares in the co-op.  In addition, the individual owner must pay his pro rata share of the common operating expenses, such as the doorman, common area utlities, common area repairs, real estate taxes on the entire property, and insurance on the entire building.

There are special issues associated with financing a co-op.  One issue is that many co-op's still own a number of unsold shares (units), which are commonly rented out.  If the co-op still owns too many unsold units or has "foreclosed" on too many shares (units), such properties are difficult to finance.  As a general rule, if the co-op still owns more than 30% of the shares, few banks will finance the project.

So what happens if a balloon payment comes due at a time when the co-op has foreclosed on too many shares (units)?  It's fair to say that there is "big trouble in River City".

There are other issues associated with owning and financing co-ops.  One issue is that the Board of Directions of the corporation has the right to veto an owner's sale of his share (unit).  Madonna once tried to buy a co-op in New York City, but the Board of Directors rejected her application!  The Board of Directors can also forbid or limit a shareholder's ability to rent his unit out.

Another issue with co-ops is that if a number of shareholders are not paying their lease payments and assessments, the remaining shareholders have to come up with the extra money every month to cover the shortfall.  Remember, the corporation owns the building, not the individual occupants.  The mortgage is often huge, and the mortgage loan is in the name of the corporation.  If the bank financing the entire building forecloses, every shareholder is wiped out.  Yikes!

As a result, condominiums have become the preferred method of collective ownership of commercial real estate.  Nevertheless, tens of thousands of apartment buildings and mobile home parks are still owned by co-ops.

Does your co-op need a commercial loan?  if so, please write to me, George Blackburne, at george@blackburne.com.  In the subject line, please write the words, "Co-Op Loan".  Thanks!

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What do you think is the single most important item in a commercial loan package?  Is it the Pro Forma Operating Statement?  After all, whether or not the borrower will qualify for a commercial mortgage loan ultimately depends on the cash flow of the property, right?

Or is the most important document in a commercial loan package the personal financial  statement on the borrower?  After all, commercial banks are the only commercial lenders actively funding deals right now at reasonable terms.  If the borrower is not making lots of money and if the borrower does not have a lot of cash in the bank, a commercial bank probably won't do the deal.

No.  The most important document or item in any commercial loan package is the picture!  If you don't have at least one attractive color photograph of the property, don't bother submitting the deal.  It is the picture that sells the lender on taking the time to underwrite the deal.

That's why it drives me crazy when brokers and borrowers submit commercial loans to us without a beautiful color picture of the property. 

Not any picture will do either.  Many times we have received commercial loan packages with grainy, out-of-focus pictures taken on cloudy days.  Yuck!  C'mon, guys, this is Lesson One of commercial real estate finance.

Don't submit your commercial deal until you have at least one attractive color picture of the property, taken on a sunny day with lots of blue sky overhead.  Blue sky sells.

Remember, a commercial loan underwriter is not going to underwrite a commercial loan until you sell him on the attractiveness and desirability of the property.  You could have a filthy rich borrower and a great cash flow; but if the commercial lender never even bothers to open your commercial loan package, what have you accomplished?

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Blackburne & Sons may be the only hard money farm land lender in the country.  We love making hard money loans on farm land.

Why farm land?  Farm land is the only class of real estate that has appreciated since the start of the Great Recession.  Blackburne & Sons is so bullish on farm land that we actually put together eleven little syndicates to buy farms here in Northern Indiana.  Those syndicates did well.  We have already sold seven of them for a handsome profit.

The typical loan is 12.9% to 13.9%, 3 to 5 points, 25 years amortized, due in two years, with no prepayment penalty.  We will lend between 40% and 65% of value, depending on the borrower's income and credit.  We might go as high as 70% LTV on a purchase, if the buyer was putting down 30%.

Mortgage brokers should prominently emphasize the availability of hard money farm loans in their flyers and newsletters because they will have very little competition.  This is a fast and  easy way to earn a large commission.

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I have been blogging recently about how credit unions are emerging as an excellent source for commercial loans. However, not every borrower is eligible for a loan from a credit union.

In the past, you had to work for a company (for example: Lockheed) that had a credit union.  Then the laws changed to allow a lot more people to join credit unions.  Nowadays, if you live in the same community as a community credit union, you can join the credit union and hence be a borrower.

Today we made a fascinating discovery.  We were working on a commercial loan for a dentist who owned a commercial building in Florida that was leased out.  But the dentist lived in California.

We submitted the deal to a Florida credit union located close to the property.  When we asked if this California resident could join and borrow from a Florida credit union, the loan officer replied, "Yes!"  Apparently just owning a commercial property in close proximity to a community credit union gives the borrower enough ties with the community to join the credit union, even if the borrower lives 2,000 miles away!  I was floored by this news.

Earlier in this article I wrote that "not everyone is eligble to borrow from a credit union."  That may not be true! 

So where can you find credit unions hungry for small commercial real estate loans.  C-Loans.com is an excellent place to start.  Dozens of credit unions have recently joined C-Loans in search of good small business loans.  You can submit your commercial loan to 750 different banks, credit unions, conduits, life companies and private commercial lenders in just four minutes using the C-Loans Commercial Mortgage Portal.  And C-Loans is free!

Lastly, if you're a buddy or a former student of mine, would you please do me the great kindness of hitting the Like button, the Google+1 button, and the Linked-In Share button above.  Thanks so much.  :-)

Credit unions are emerging as a very good source for small commercial loans.  As short as seven years ago, credit unions made less than 1% of all new commercial real estate loans in the country. 

The Credit Union National Association now estimates that its member institutions hold almost 6 percent of small business loans in the U.S., totaling $40 billion.  That is an enormous increase in such a short period of time.   Credit unions are actively filling the void left when commercial banks across the country sharply cut back their volume of new commercial real estate loans.

Credit unions are planning an even larger foray into small business lending.  Lending by credit unions to businesses is currently limited by law to 12.5 percent of total assets, a substantially more restrictive limit than that imposed upon commercial banks.  Legislation is pending in Congress to expand the limit to 27.5 percent of assets.

Credit unions offer lower rates for small commercial real estate loans than commercial banks.  The reason why is because credit unions are exempt from Federal taxation.

Credit unions will also lend more dollars.  We got a quote from a credit union today of 80% loan-to-value.  Eighty percent!!

So where can you find credit unions hungry for small commercial real estate loans.  C-Loans.com is an excellent place to start.  Dozens of credit unions have recently joined C-Loans in search of good small business loans.  You can submit your commercial loan to 750 different banks, credit unions, conduits, life companies and private commercial lenders in just four minutes using the C-Loans Commercial Mortgage Portal.  And C-Loans is free!

Another way to find hungry credit unions is to identify all of the credit unions located within a 30 mile radius of the subject property.  Credit unions are strictly local lenders, so you need to find nearby credit unions for your deal.

So how do you actually find these credit unions?  Simply go to maps.yahoo.com and type in the address of the subject property.  Then, in the "Find a Business" field, type in "banks".  All of the local banks and credit unions will appear plotted on the map.

If you found this article to be instructive, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to our blog via email.  To get a copy of each new training blog article as it comes out, without having to remember to come back, please fill in your email address in the space provided on the right.

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The reason why residential real estate brokers are a great source for commercial loans is because they are NOT experts at commercial real estate finance.  They often need the help of a commercial mortgage broker to find a lender for their buyers.

In contrast, commercial real estate brokers ("commercial brokers") are often near-experts at commercial mortgage finance.  Because all of the properties they sell are commercial in nature, they have their own personal stables of bankers and other direct commercial lenders that they use to finance their commercial property sales.

In addition, since they often sit in the same office together, its easy for them to just turn around and ask, "Hey, Steve, what bank do we know that is financing hotels today?"  Therefore these guys often don't need the help of a commercial mortgage broker.  They know this stuff as well as you and me.

There is another reason why I absolutely love residential real estate brokers as a source of commercial loans.  Residential real estate brokers are the guys who list the small commercial properties, like houses converted into small office buildings, small motels, and bread-and-butter mixed use properties, like a small retail shop on a busy strip with a triplex in the back.

And the thing about small commercial loans is that they close!  If your current pipeline is full $5 million and $10 million loans, especially if they are construction loans or international loans, there is a very good chance that every one of your deals will fall out.  Remember, it is the small commercial loans that actually close.

So why won't the big commercial brokers - companies like CB Richard Ellis, Cushman Wakefield, and Marcus & Millichap - list small commercial properties for sale?  They usually don't want to be bothered with properties valued at less than $2 million. 

This means that the owners of small commercial properties are often forced to list their properties for sale will small, mom-and-pop, residential brokerages.  That's wonderful news for us commercial mortgage brokers because the agents in these mom-and-pop shops actually need us. 

If you found this article to be instructive, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to our blog via email.  To get a copy of each new training blog article as it comes out, without having to remember to come back, please fill in your email address in the space provided on the right.

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In our first lesson on the Operating Expense Ratio, we said that borrowers and brokers had an incentive to understate their commercial property's operating expenses.  The lower the operating expenses, the larger the commercial loan for which the borrower can qualify.

Commercial lenders therefore use the Operating Expense Ratio to see how much the borrower or broker is fudging his operating expenses.  Below are some reasonable operating expense ratios that commercial real estate lenders will believe:

1. Multifamily:  35% to 45%
2. Triple-Net Leased Buildings:  7% (Management and Replacement Reserves)
3. Self Storage:  25%
4. Mobile Home Parks:  25% to 40%  (Pool?  Clubhouse?  Closer to 40%)
5. Hospitality (Hotels/Motels):  50% to 65%
6. Assisted Living:  85% (That's NOT a typo.)

The owner or broker would be foolish to try to get away with operating expenses that are too much lower than those shown above; otherwise, your commercial lender may apply some punitive assumption (say, a 45% operating expense ratio on a multifamily deal) that will just kill your deal.

Remember, pigs get pleasantly plump.  Hogs get slaughtered.

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Imagine having a list of 2,000 commercial lenders organized by state.  I will trade you a free copy of The Blackburne List for the contact information of just one banker who makes commercial real estate loans.  We solicit these bankers to refer their turndowns to C-Loans.

Got a commercial loan that will qualify at some bank, but you just haven't found the right bank?  Remember, C-Loans.com is free!

Do you need commercial leads?  We sell our commercial leads for just a token fee upfront (1 to $9 each), plus 37.5 bps. when the deal closes.

The Operating Expense Ratio is used by commercial mortgage underwriters to catch commercial borrowers who are trying to cheat.  The Operating Expense Ratio is defined as the Projected Operating Expenses divided by the Effective Gross Income (the Gross Income minus a 5% Reserve for Vacancy & Collection Loss), the result multiplied by 100%.

Operating Expense Ratio = (Projected Operating Expenses / Effective Gross Income) x 100%

Example:  Suppose an apartment building owner is trying to refinance his 64-unit project.  His Projected Operating Expenses for next year, including a 6% off-site property management factor*, is $248,064 per year.  His Projected Gross Income is $1,000 per unit per month, or $64,000 per month.  Assuming a 5% Reserve for Vacancy and Collection Loss, his Effective Gross Income per month is $60,800 (95% of $64,000).  If we anualize that number, we get $729,600.  Therefore:

Operating Expense Ratio = (Operating Expenses / Effective Gross Income) x 100%

Operating Expense Ratio = ($248,064 / $729,600) x 100%

Operating Expense Ratio = 34.0%

*  Even if he manages the property himself, the owner has to figure in the cost of an outside management comapany because if the bank forecloses, the bank certainly isn't going to manage the property itself.

If this ratio is too low, according to industry standards, the commercial lender will simply disregard the projected operating expenses provided by the borrower or broker and use an assumption instead.  This assumption is usually punitive and often kills the deal.

When most commercial mortgage borrowers apply for a new commercial loan, the single most important term in their minds is the loan amount.  Most commercial mortgage borrowers want the largest commercial loan possible.  If a commercial mortgage borrower is buying a property for, say, $1,000,000; he'll usually want to be able to borrow at least $750,000.  This way he only has to put down $250,000 (25% of the $1MM purchase price).

In real life, most commercial mortgage borrowers will choose a $750,000 loan at 5.75% over a $690,000 loan at just 5.0%.  It's the loan size, not the interest rate, that is usually the most important commercial loan term.

The problem, however, is that the commercial loan size is limited by the debt service coverage ratio.  You'll recall that the debt service coverage ratio is defined as the net operating income (NOI) divided by the debt service (annual principal and interest payments on the proposed loan).     Most commercial lenders today require a debt service coverage ratio of at least 1.25.

The higher the NOI, the larger the commercial loan for which the borrower can qualify, given a particular debt service coverage ratio.

Borrowers and brokers therefore have a large incentive to make the projected expenses on their operating statements look as low as possible.  After all, the lower the projected expenses, the higher the NOI appears.  The higher the NOI appears, the larger the commercial loan for which the borrower can qualify.

Commercial lenders therefore must be very suspicious of the projected operating expenses provided by either the borrower or mortgage broker.  The projected operating expenses are often understated or fudged.

So how can a commercial lender check to see if the projected operating expenses are reasonable or understated?  Commercial lenders use the Operating Expense Ratio to check to see if the projected operating expenses are reasonable.

So what are these industry standards for the Operating Expense Ratio?  We will cover them in our next blog article, Operating Expense Ratio II - What Ratios Will Commercial Lenders Believe.

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More commercial real estate loans are ballooning in 2016 than in any year in history.  For well-trained commercial mortgage brokers, it will be like a turkey shoot.

Got a bankable commercial loan?  Find scores of banks hungry to make commercial loans.  And C-Loans is free to borrowers and commercial mortgage brokers.

Imagine coming in to work at your commercial mortgage brokerage practice and finding four or five new commercial loan applications in your email box.  Imagine getting another dozen commercial loan leads calls over the course of the day.  Imagine having a magic button that you can push whenever your volume of commercial loan lead calls starts to fall off.  All of this is possible... if you know how to properly market for commercial real estate loans.

But marketing for commercial real estate loans can be very unrewarding, unless you know precisely what to do.  If you need commercial loan leads, you can easily waste tens of thousands of dollars and years out of your life on commercial loan marketing schemes that are a complete bust.  Imagine spending $10,000 on a large snail-mail campaign to commercial property owners and then not closing a single commercial loan.  Imagine paying $5,000 for a large magazine ad and then not getting a single commercial loan lead.

This is why I have just finished a wonderful new training course for commercial mortgage brokers, SBA lenders, and bank loan officers enitled, Marketing for Commercial Real Estate Loans.  This $199 training course was written in 2012, and it contains all of my latest high-tech techniques for generating commercial loan applications as easily as turning on a spigot.

First of all I will share with you all of the marketing schemes for generating commercial loans that do not work.  Over the past 31 years I wasted over $1 million dollars on marketing schemes that were a complete bust.  I soooo wish I could have taken a course in commercial mortgage marketing instead of wasting that $1 million.  If I had only bought farmland with that $1 million that I had wasted on unsuccessful marketing schemes...

Then I will teach you a number of simple and proven methods for marketing for commercial real estate loans that work as reliably as turning on a water spigot.  This course is written in the form of 52 separate lessons on commercial mortgage marketing.  To see a sample lesson (five slides), please click on the link below:

Please remember to return to this blog article when this mini-course is done.

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If you found this article to be instructive, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to our blog via email.  To get a copy of each new training blog article as it comes out, without having to remember to come back, please fill in your email address in the space provided on the right.

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