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How to Work with Commercial Loan Brokers

 December 17, 2018

The main reason to use a commercial loan broker like Assets America® is to access an entire network of lenders and commercial funding sources.  As a result, this will save you substantial time in trying to find the lender on your own with the best rates and terms that most closely meet your requirements.  To that end, this blog will review how to hire and work with a commercial loan broker, and suggest questions to ask prior to hiring one.

Assets America® is a full service, highly reputable commercial loan broker and commercial mortgage broker.  Furthermore, we work with borrowers to arrange a full array of commercial real estate (CRE) loans and commercial & industrial (C&I) loans.   Our loans start at $20 million with virtually no upper limit.  

Hiring a Commercial Mortgage Broker or Commercial Loan Broker

When planning a project, no decision is more important than how to arrange financing.  In fact, the right lender will understand your needs and offer you the best available mix of terms and interest rates. However, trying to ferret out the ideal lender is an overwhelming task that can consume substantial time and office and human resources.  That’s why approximately 70% of all commercial funding involves a commercial loan broker instead!  But not all commercial loan brokers are equal…far from it.

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What to Expect from Your Commercial Loan Broker

When you hire a commercial loan broker, you should expect a variety of high-value benefits.

Transactional Excellence

The mark of a good commercial loan broker is the ability to shepherd a loan transaction to a successful closing.  Equally important, it must manage the formation of all tiers of deal-making, properly structured for each transaction.  As a client, you require focused, integrated and seamless transactions that offer superior terms, efficient execution and low risk.  Whether the transaction includes capital formation, acquisition and sale, or a joint venture, Assets America® delivers successful solutions where other brokers fail.

Private Banking Experience

A good commercial loan broker has established a network of professional relationships with well-funded private lenders.  These lenders can be both in the U.S. and around the world.  As a result, any broker can broadcast a loan application to a hodgepodge of banks and other public lenders.  It’s a very rare commercial loan broker that has assembled a network of institutional and private lenders that have the capacity to support client objectives.

Customized Service

Each borrower has its own unique requirements.  A good commercial loan broker spends the time to learn those requirements in detail before preparing the loan request package.  Also, the commercial loan brokerage firm helps evaluate the project’s feasibility within the constraints of time, budget, market and government requirements.  To that end, we limit the number of clients we accept to ensure our capacity to provide the personal attention you deserve.

Loan Request Packaging

Many borrowers know what they want, but they don’t know how to ask for it.  As a result, top commercial loan brokers work with their customers to produce a professional presentation.  The presentation should incorporate all of the necessary information required by lenders to evaluate loan applications.  Equally important, a good loan broker knows exactly what to include in loan applications.  But even more importantly, it knows how to evaluate the numbers presented in the loan request package.  And, it knows how to correct unrealistic assumptions and in general vet all the information provided.  The result should be a compelling presentation that attracts the favorable attention of lenders.

Secure advice, tips, and tricks, and secrets from a commercial mortgage broker

11 Questions to Ask Your Commercial Loan Broker

  1. What kinds of loans do you offer?
  2. What are the terms I should expect?
  3. Which metrics do you evaluate (i.e. loan-to-value, debt service coverage ratio, and so forth)?
  4. Do I have to personally guarantee the loan, a recourse loan, or is it non-recourse?
  5. How much are the loan costs, including origination fees and third-party reports?
  6. What is the minimum size loan you arrange?
  7. Are there any prepayment penalties?
  8. What are my requirements for net worth (usually equal to the loan amount) and liquidity (typically 10% of the loan)?
  9. Do I need to deposit interest payments in escrow?  If so, how many months’ worth?
  10. What do you require for a property’s leasing to declare the asset stabilized (typically 80% occupied)?
  11. How much insurance do I need (usually 100% of replacement value)?

At Assets America®, our large network of institutional and private funding sources provide all types of loans.  We fund hotel loans, multifamily loans, yacht financing, aircraft financing, and many, many more. Check our Lines of Business on the menu bar to see many of your options. Contact us today for all your commercial borrowing needs.

Video – Is it Better to Work with Commercial Loan Brokers or Bank Mortgage Specialists

Selecting a Commercial Loan Broker

Here are a few considerations while searching for a commercial loan broker:

Google Search

Many borrowers start with a Google search.  First, you should know that in some cases the top four entries and the bottom three entries on the first pages of results are paid ads.  However, these results are marked with the Ad symbol.  These paid ad entries in no way reflect Google’s algorithm that presents the most relevant results first. More than 70% of Google Searchers do not even click on these ads. The best thing to do is to simply skip any entry that begins with the Ad symbol.  Instead, it is best to check the organic search results

Moreover, you’ll find that many of the top commercial loan brokers, including Assets America®, appear on the first several pages of results.  Often this is the case for Assets America®. Importantly, this reflects the fact that the Google PageRank algorithm determines Assets America® to be an authoritative source of information on the topic and a popular choice among all Google searchers. While results vary by query, this is the important point: It’s wise to eliminate any loan broker that resorts to paid ads on Google.

Website Quality

A second-rate website is a good indicator of a second-rate commercial loan broker.  For example, look for a website that explains in detail the type of loans available, including important information about how the loans work and which ones are most appropriate to your needs.  Moreover, a good website will also offer many resource and blog articles that cover a wide range of pertinent topics to help educate and inform readers.  

Furthermore, you can further evaluate a website on the care that’s gone into its design and execution.  Look for a logical menu system that makes navigation literate prose that’s written to the highest standards, and compelling graphics that help tell the story.  Likewise, a clunky website is a red flag for a broker who doesn’t try to be the best it can be, and therefore, usually isn’t.

Deals Closed

The broker’s website should provide examples of deals closed.  By reviewing these examples, you get a sense of the broker’s range of projects, its professionalism, and its commitment to its customers.  However, most websites only show a fraction of the actual deals closed. You can view our Deals Closed here.

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Testimonials

Eric D.
Pleasure to work with and extremely knowledgeable

Ronny was a pleasure to work with and is extremely knowledgeable. His hard work was never ending until the job was done. They handled a complex lease and guided us through entire process, including the paperwork. Not to mention a below market lease rate and more than all the features we needed in a site. We later used Assets America for a unique equipment financing deal where once again Ronny and team exceeded our expectations and our timeline. Thank you to Assets America for your highly professional service!

exp MFGroup
Great experience with Assets America

Great experience with Assets America. Fast turn around. Had a lender in place in 30 minutes looking to do the deal. Totally amazing. Highly recommend them to anyone looking for financing. Ronny is fantastic. Give them a call if the deal makes sense they can get it funded. Referring all our clients.

William P.
Assets America guided us every step of the way

Assets America guided us every step of the way in finding and leasing our large industrial building with attached offices. They handled all of the complex lease negotiations and contractual paperwork. Ultimately, we received exactly the space we needed along with a lower than market per square foot pricing, lease length and end of term options we requested. In addition to the real estate lease, Assets America utilized their decades-long financial expertise to negotiate fantastic rates and terms on our large and very unique multimillion dollar equipment purchase/lease. We were thankful for how promptly and consistently they kept us informed and up to date on each step of our journey. They were always available to answer each and every one of our questions. Overall, they provided my team with a fantastic and highly professional service!

Bob B.
The company is very capable, I would recommend Assets America

Assets America was responsible for arranging financing for two of my multi million dollar commercial projects. At the time of financing, it was extremely difficult to obtain bank financing for commercial real estate. Not only was Assets America successful, they were able to obtain an interest rate lower than going rates. The company is very capable, I would recommend Assets America to any company requiring commercial financing.

Ricardo L.
Assets America was incredibly helpful and professional

Assets America was incredibly helpful and professional in assisting us in purchasing our property. It was great to have such knowledgeable and super-experienced, licensed pros in our corner, pros upon which we could fully rely. They helped and successfully guided us to beat out 9 other competing offers! They were excellent at communicating with us at all times and they were extremely responsive. Having them on our team meant that we could always receive truthful, timely and accurate answers to our questions. We would most definitely utilize their services again and again for all of our real estate needs.

HMG R&D
Assets America is a great company to work with

Assets America is a great company to work with. No hassles. Recommend them to everyone. Professional, fast response time and definitely gets the job done.

DAC Team
Great experience

Ronny at Assets America has been invaluable to us and definitely is tops in his field. Great experience. Would refer them to all our business associates.

MF Group
We were very pleased with Assets America’s expertise

We were very pleased with Assets America’s expertise and prompt response to our inquiry. They were very straight forward with us and helped a great deal. We referred them to all our business associates.

Manny C.
Worked with this company for decades

I’ve worked with this company for decades. They are reputable, knowledgeable, and ethical with proven results. I highly recommend them to anyone needing commercial financing.

David B.
Top-notch professional

Ronny was incredibly adept and responsive – top-notch professional who arranged impressive term sheets.

Monte M.
Assets America helped us survive a very difficult time

Assets America helped us survive a very difficult time and we most definitely give them 5 stars!

Brent G.
Gave me direction to go

Ronny was very friendly and though we were unable to make something happen at the moment he gave me some direction to go.

Allan E.
Highly recommend them for any type of commercial financing

My business partner and I were looking to purchase a retail shopping center in southern California.  We sought out the services of Ronny, CFO of Assets America.  Ronny found us several commercial properties which met our desired needs.  We chose the property we liked best, and Ronny went to work. He negotiated very aggressively on our behalf. We came to terms with the Seller, entered into a purchase agreement and opened escrow.  Additionally, we needed 80 percent financing on our multimillion-dollar purchase.  Assets America also handled the commercial loan for us.  They were our One-Stop-Shop. They obtained fantastic, low, fixed rate insurance money for us.  So, Assets America handled both the sale and the loan for us and successfully closed our escrow within the time frame stated in the purchase agreement.  Ronny did and performed exactly as he said he would. Ronny and his company are true professionals.  In this day and age, it’s especially rare and wonderful to work with a person who actually does what he says he will do.  We recommend them to anyone needing any type of commercial real estate transaction and we further highly recommend them for any type of commercial financing.  They were diligent and forthright on both accounts and brought our deal to a successful closing.