By Robert Newton


It is trickier to get a commercial mortgage loan today than it was 2 years ago. The credit tightening has prompted many commercial property investors to look into alternative sources of capital.

Private banks, regularly called hard money banks, have gained in popularity recently as banks and Wall St brokers refused to make loans. It is true that privately financed business loan banks can be more flexible and can close loans in just days, but that does not mean they're simple to get.

Before a property owner is applicable to a hard money lender they should understand the diversities between fixed funding and non-public funding.

Regulation

Standard lenders like banks, insurance companies and Wall St investment houses are all highly regulated. Banks carry FDIC or other government insurance, insurance firms are studied over by each State Insurance Commission and Wall Street is governed by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Monetary Industry Regulatory Authority (FIRA). There is a extreme amount of bureaucracy, red-tape and rules involved in originating conventional, fixed loans. All this regulation suggests that bank loans are slow, banks are not flexible and there are tons of documentation and documentation concerned.

Non-public banks are, unarguably, personal entities. They could be organized as LLCs or Limited Partnerships (LPs) or they may be a single, well off individual who makes cash by making loans, but they don't fall under the prevue of banking regulation. They must, of course, adhere to all anti-fraud laws as-well-as all laws against un-fair and fraudulent business practices, but they don't have to report their specific lending activity to Government Agencies and aren't subject to Government licensing or chartering. Hard cash lenders can be highly flexible in their underwriting standards; they can change their own lending policies as they wish for their own reasons. They do not need to require large amounts of documents if they don't want to and they can move very swiftly if they like a deal.

Speed

Bank and other fixed loans sometimes take 90-180 days to shut.

Private loans can close up a matter of just days if they have to (a virtual impossibility when handling a bank) but sometimes take 21 days.

Rates

Conventional loans are often primarily based on a longtime baseline rate such-as the 10 year US Treasury Bond. The bank takes the base rate adds an index and comes up with a loan rate. Treasury and other rate indexes are historically low right now (Fall '09) and business mortgage loans (for people that qualify) rates are being priced in the region of between 5.5%-7.5%

license money lender usually hold the loans they issue in their own portfolios as-opposed to establishments who often sell their loans to Executive Ventures or the secondary market. Hard Cash banks make their profit on rate and points so they charge noticeably more. Most non-public loans today are being quoted at between 10%-16%

Points

It is uncommon to see a bank charge more than 2 origination points on any loan.

Non-public banks will typically charge at least 3 points and as much as 5.

Terms

Traditional lenders usually offer 3, 5, 7 or 10 year fixed terms on loans amortized over 10-25 years. A balloon payment or a refinance is usually necessary at the end of the term, though more and more banks are supplying variable rate products that don't require refinance.

Personal loans are virtually always short term, bridge type loans. Most levy interest only payments rather than amortize. The average non-public loan period is about 18 months and hard money lenders rarely write a loan for at least 36 months. The loan must be paid off in full at the end of the term.

Underwriting

Regulated institutions are now commonly full documentation, full underwriting lenders. Each "I" must be dotted and every "T" must be crossed. They'll totally safeguard the property first then the borrower. Both must pass gather or the loan will be denied.

Private lenders are equity banks. They lend primarily based on the amount of equity in the target property. Stockholders will find hard money loans require much less forms and paperwork. Personal banks will use caution. And won't lend to just anybody, but the underwriting is way more straight forward.

Loan-to-Value (LTV)

Banks used to lend up to 80% of a buildings price and permit a 10% 2nd position loan, permitting sponsors to borrow as-much-as 90% of a deals value. Those days are gone. Now even the biggest, strongest banks will not lend more than 75% LTV and they discourage 2nd loans. 65% is standard unless a borrower has a robust balance sheet and a massive liquidity position.

Non-public lender will not exceed 65% LTV even for properties that have fantastic money flow. Underperforming or vacant buildings will receive offers of around 50%-60% and land loans will come in at way below 50% LTV.

In an ideal credit environment bank loans or loans from other big money centres are the most coveted. They offer the best terms, lowest rate and fewest points. Any one who can qualify should seek funding from these powerful establishments. However , we are not in an ideal credit environment. We are in a mess.

Banks have tightened their standards, property values are dropping and the secondary mortgage bond market has utterly crumpled. These circumstances have made it troublesome or impossible for people to secure a standard loan. Personal banks are rather more pricey and offer only short term finance, but they are filling an imperative need and may be considered by borrowers if the bank has turned them away.




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