Commercial Tips 7-27-10
Posted by CSH in -Comments From the Investment Property Insider on July 27, 2010
Summer is in full swing and I’m enjoying it! I had a little vacation time with family recently in the Midwest (can you say HOT AND MUGGY?) and now I’m back in the saddle. I’m finding rates low thanks to recent moves in the Treasury market and some lenders tentatively coming back into the market. On our own account, we’ve seen LTV’s expand, rates remain low, underwriters actually return calls, and a few more property types become “acceptable.” We’re still not seeing much in hospitality, although some of our partner lenders are making some loans there. “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus It certainly is harder to focus on work in the summer, isn’t it? I mean even if you are a die-hard ski bum, you just can’t beat warm weather, barbeque, and shorts. We may as well enjoy it, fall and winter are just around the corner! So please keep us in mind if you are considering any financing moves in your portfolio or if you know of anyone who might be. “The summer night is like a perfection of thought.” – Wallace Stevens Commercial Tip Watch the CMBS Market. If you’ve been watching the financial news at all you may have seen that there is some activity in the commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) markets. This is good overall for our industry, but you do have to read between the lines. The properties going into these pools for the moment are the best of the best and the issues are quite limited compared to the early part of the decade. While I won’t tell you to get excited, do keep a look out for more of these issues because they provide badly needed liquidity in our industry. (Also remember that these Read the rest of this entry »
Commercial Tips 6-23-10
Posted by CSH in -Comments From the Investment Property Insider on June 23, 2010
Well, L.A. did it again. Kobe, Phil, and crew are the NBA Champions … again! And only one car was burned out in the process. I think that L.A. is growing up!! It was a heck of a Game 7 and had the L.A. fans locating defibrillators. Now I get to turn my attention to Wimbledon. There was quite a cliff-hanger there with Federer almost getting beaten in the first round. Oh, and let’s not forget the FIFA World Cup. Get out your vuvuzela’s and cheer on the US or your favorite country. I love June for sports! We are more aggressive on owner-user small business transactions today. If you have a small business and are contemplating expansion or a move, please give us a call. We can help with the real estate, working capital, and equipment leasing. “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln We still like you investors, too. Give us a call to discuss your situation, particularly if you are looking Read the rest of this entry »
Commercial Tips 6-2-10
Posted by CSH in -Comments From the Investment Property Insider on June 2, 2010
Rates are low, thanks to the European Sovereign Debt crisis. (Have you noticed an uptick in the use of the word “crisis” lately?) Now we have rising Mideast tensions to go along with that and our own local oil spill disaster. This is all good news for interest rates as people hide their money in U.S. Treasury securities. Hopefully you don’t own a bunch of Euros at the moment, but then again it might not be a bad time to book a great summer trip to the Mediterranean! “If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.” – Albert Einstein It’s quiet out there in commercial lending land. More banks in the Pacific Northwest are going under because of bad construction loans. That and general “fear of lending” is still keeping a lid on a significant uptick in commercial lending. We are still able to do things in our specialty areas of SBA 504, small investment properties, and construction projects in default, but underwriting standards are high. Hang in there, though. It should get better through the summer. Commercial Tip Read the rest of this entry »
Commercial Tips 5-10-10
Posted by CSH in -Comments From the Investment Property Insider on May 10, 2010
I think the folks at Walt Disney could learn a thing or two about roller coasters from the folks on Wall Street. What a week we had! Down 1,000 points, up 650 points (while still being down), down the next day. Now the International Masters of the Financial Universe have created yet another super-hyper-massive bailout with money that doesn’t exist. (That’s what central banks are doing these days … financial sleight of hand). Can any of you spell “inflation?” And I mean I-N-F-L-A-T-I-O-N! My history may be a little rusty, but didn’t Nero say something like “Give them Bread and Circuses” while Rome fell? Translate that to “Health Care and Pensions” today and you get my point. “I’m living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart.” – e e cummings On the commercial real estate front we can rest somewhat more easily in that our transaction periods insulate us from such whipsaws in the equity markets (unless, of course, you own shares in a REIT). Rates actually benefit from these situations as investors flee to safety, bid up prices treasuries, and lower interest rates temporarily. Now all we need are more jobs and we will see a recovery in Retail and Office. “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.” – Charles Dickens Commercial Financing Tip Highlight Experience. Lenders of all stripes love to work with experienced borrowers. But what constitutes “experience” in the eyes of a lender in today’s credit restricted world? Realistically, ten or more years of commercial real estate investing or development experience, as documented in a resumé or transaction history is probably today’s minimum. Any less and the borrower would not have experienced a slower market. Also of key interest are the historical transaction sizes. Recent transactions should be near the same size as the one contemplated on the current financing request. If the new transaction you are contemplating is 5 or 10 times larger than your normal size, you’d better re-think your request or bring in some other partners! Management companies don’t really count because they are not ultimately responsible for Read the rest of this entry »
Free Syndication Report!
Commercial Tips 8-16-10
Posted by CSH in -Comments From the Investment Property Insider on August 16, 2010
So what does “Falling Floors” mean? Is it earthquake season in California? Do I work in a building with questionable structural integrity? NO! It means that we’ve lowered our Floor Rates! Right now our adjustable bottom out at 4.5% and our fixed rate products bottom out at 5.5%. Looks like that Federal Reserve attitude of “0%” is having an effect, of sorts. “The very first law in advertising is to avoid the concrete promise and cultivate the delightfully vague.” – Bill Cosby The good news is that if you have a need for commercial financing and your property’s financials are in good shape there is some really good financing available to you. While summer is in high gear and you’re at the beach or the lake, take a few minutes to see if you can benefit from some inexpensive financing. We’d love to help. Check out this week’s rates and give us a call. “Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it.” – Stephen Leacock Read the rest of this entry »
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