Just the other day, I heard a rather prominent commercial real estate mortgage industry insider (who wishes to remain anonymous) utter something like: “Sorry guys, no commercial lenders are making loans for commercial construction financing these days in this dismal economic downturn.” No wonder that industry insider wants to remain anonymous! He ought to because it seems to me that when executives start to parrot what they hear in the news media, they actually cause the doom and gloom that doesn’t really exist @ all before they proclaim it. Anyway, rest assured that you can get commercial construction loan financing – if you know where to look…
Perhaps where he comes from, commercial construction financing is hard to come by, but he was undoubtedly referring to traditional commercial real estate lenders. Now don’t get me wrong, conventional commercial lenders do have a solid rationale for being reluctant to provide construction loan financing: “In a down economy, lots of standing (existing) real estate sits vacant or unsold on the market. So, why the heck should we finance new construction?”
OK, we get their point, but there are still a lot of good solid new construction projects out there that need to be funded, and yours may just be one of them. If so, private commercial construction loan financing is where it’s at. Here’s what it is, why you may need it, and how you can get access to $250,000 to $500 million in the ideal combination of private commercial mortgage loans and up to 100% joint venture equity capital…
Private Commercial Construction Loan Financing Defined
First of all, let’s define what a commercial construction loan actually is. Private commercial construction loans are typically short-term interim recourse commercial loans from non-bank sources (e.g. private investment firms, individual investors, hedge funds, etc) to finance construction costs. In a typical case, the lender would advance construction funds to you as the builder at periodically at set intervals as the work progresses. By “recourse”, we’re referring to loans where the lender may seek to recover money in addition to real property that the borrow pledges as collateral in the event of a loan default.
Why You May Need Private Money To Fund Your Commercial Construction Deals
Perhaps the toughest issue that we as commercial real estate investors and owners face–especially within this challenging economy is locating financing when our credit scores, resumes, and/or financial statements are less than stellar. Private lenders and equity capital financiers can work with you to find or devise the ideal combination of debt & equity to finance your commercial construction project. Plus, these private capital sources have much greater flexibility, can offer you more creative financing options, and they can fund your deals with eye-popping speed and efficiency.
How You Can Access Private Commercial Construction Loans and Equity Capital Financing
Based upon the information that you have just read, if you feel that either private commercial mortgage finance or private equity capital finance sources are appropriate for your new commercial construction real estate ventures, please just keep in mind that you certainly can get access to the most appropriate form of commercial construction loan financing for your business – as long as you know just where to look for it.
Charles Emery is a Commercial Real Estate Finance Consultant with Radiant Properties LLC, a Philadelphia, PA based real estate investment and commercial real estate finance consulting firm. Prior to his entrepreneurial e