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Small business owners - sourcing commercial real estate lenders?

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 4:08 pm
by CascadiaSoonish
hi all, I'm looking into SBA 504 financing to move my business into an owner-occupied commercial property. I have rough numbers from my bank but want to look into other lending options. Any pointers from the community on reputable services or mechanisms to source additional financing quotes? I've found stuff like https://www.c-loans.com/ but would like to hear about other lenders or methods to connect with lenders, particularly those doing SBA 504 and/or conduit/CBMS lenders (from what I'm reading...) Thanks!

Re: Small business owners - sourcing commercial real estate lenders?

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 4:21 pm
by GibsonL6s
Property type? Are you occupying all of it?

It may make sense to start with where you bank, they frequently have commercial real estate loans for these types of purchases. Wells, B of A all want this type of loan. SBA will typically provide higher leverage, however more hoops to jump through to get the loan.

Re: Small business owners - sourcing commercial real estate lenders?

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:00 pm
by CascadiaSoonish
We'd plan to have our business occupy the majority of the property -- I understand the required occupancy % for SBA 504 varies by construction and loan type. I already have an informal quote for an SBA 504 loan from our long-time business bank but want to do some comparison shopping.

Re: Small business owners - sourcing commercial real estate lenders?

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2018 3:35 am
by Snert
Long-time entrepreneur here. I bought a commercial office building recently and negotiated seller-financing with favorable terms. During my due diligence period, I contacted a number of banks, including the one I've used for many years, a few regional banks, and a couple community banks. I was surprised to see the variety of responses and potential deal structures. It turns out there are lots of ways to finance a building, and some banks are much more creative than others. Some offer SBA lending and others don't. I found that terms, rates, and down payment requirements varied considerably from one bank to the next. A couple banks weren't interested at all, by the way (banks are businesses and their strategies, focus, and geographic targets vary). I ended up with about 4 good options, though, including the seller-financing option. Ultimately, I chose traditional bank financing and got a great deal with favorable terms. The seller was happy, too. Shopping around was educational and well worth the effort.