Commercial Loans and Fun Blog

This is going to be a very short training article because the Chinese were right.  A picture is worth a thousand words.  Today a mortgage broker submitted the attached picture on his C-Loans.com commercial loan application.

Guys, I have often compared C-Loans.com to a speed dating site.  Like a speed dating event, we allow you to present your commercial loan to scores and scores of lenders in just minutes.  The idea is to catch the right lender lender at the right time with the right commercial loan.

But guys, if you show up for a speed dating event with a dirty shirt, uncombed hair, unbrushed teeth, and smelling like the bottom of a Marine's dirty laundry bag... well, you can't blame the dating service for not finding you the love of your life.

The moral of the story.  Wait until you can take your property pictures on a sunny day!

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I am going to teach you a quick and easy way to get pictures taken of a commercial property that is more than 200 miles away - far beyond driving distance.

Today's training article was inspired by a real life commercial loan request on C-Loans.com.  The mortgage broker had a very do-able commercial mortgage deal in his hands.  It was a 44-unit office complex in Ohio, and the property was 100% occupied.  He was only looking for a $3.1MM permanent loan.  Just $3.1MM - wow!  This commercial loan request should have been a slam-dunk deal and a cool $31,000 commission to the mortgage broker.

The deal was turned down by over 30 different lenders.  Huh?

Yup.  And do you know why?  The mortgage broker attached the most butt-ugly picture I have ever seen on any C-Loans app.  Why was it ugly?  Let me count the ways:

1. The picture was horribly out of focus.  By the way, the picture above is NOT of the butt-ugly property, even though this picture is a little depressing.  Compared to the subject, however, the above office building is a supermodel.
   
   
2. The resolution was really low.  The picture looked liked a thumbnail that had been blown up 60 times.
   
   
3. The picture was taken on a dreary, overcast day.  Guys, blue sky sells.  Always make sure your property pictures are taken on a bright, shiny day with a beautiful blue sky.

Now this mortgage broker was not an idiot.  He had very competently completed his C-Loans app.  I'm sure he realized that his picture was atrocious.  His problem was that he was located in Michigan, and the property was located in Ohio - a six-hour drive away.  I'm sure this mortgage broker asked the borrower for better pictures, but the borrower just didn't appreciate the importance of the picture.

A good argument can be made that the single most important document in a commercial loan package is the picture(s) - even more important than the Pro Forma Operating Statement.

So what could this broker have done?  He should have hired a nearby real estate broker to take the pictures for $50 or so.  Here is how you do it:

1. Go to Google Maps -  http://maps.google.com
   
   
2. In the Search Google Maps field, insert the address of the property.
   
   
3. In many cases, Google has a nice front view of the property that you can download and use.
   
   
4. If not, click the Nearby button and a search field will appear.  Type in "Real Estate Broker".  There will usually be few within a five-minute radius.
   
   
5. Call the real estate office and offer one of the salesmen $25 to $50 to take a few pictures and send them to you by email.
   
   
6. Voila!

Yikes.  I'm a crazy cat lady.  We've got six of them.

Do you have a mortgage or real estate website?  We once paid a guy named Alan Dunn a referral fee of $21,250 for placing a Commercial Mortgages link on his website.

Keep looking for the contact information of a banker making commercial real estate loans.

Got a commercial loan that deserves a loan from either a life company, commercial bank, or conduit?

Do you need a lender who will allow the seller to carry back a second mortgage? Does your client have a balloon payment coming due on his commercial property? Has your bank offered him a discounted pay-off? Does your borrower have less-than-stellar credit? Is your client's company losing money? Is your borrower a foreign national? Do you need a non-recourse loan?  Do you need a commercial loan with no prepayment penalty? Is your client's commercial property partially vacant? Do all of your commercial leases run out in the next 18 months? Do you need a lender who will allow a negative cash flow? Do you need a lender who will also look at the borrower's global income - income from salaries, other investments, etc.?

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