Commercial Mortgage Pointers

Here’s a story about how hard it’s become to secure commercial mortgages, versus 2 to 3 years ago. (See Lender Loyalty by Orillia Today)

In it, Chris Doughty, of Dominion Lending Centre, offers a few sage tidbits; namely:

Don’t make idle threats…

• Doughty says: “You don’t want to try to bully the bank into giving you a better rate because it might backfire on you. It might have worked two or three years ago, but it doesn’t work today.”

Don’t get impatient…

• “Sometimes customers are their own worst enemies,” says Doughty. “People get impatient and get other brokers involved. Then all these brokers are shopping the same deal – eventually the deal runs into itself. Lenders think it’s credit seeking and wonder what’s wrong with the deal – and then no one will want to touch it.

Depending on the deal, it can take up to 10-30 days or more to find a commercial lender who can provide a suitable letter of interest (LOI). Then, the full due diligence stage begins, which takes even more time.

Make sure you factor in that timeframe and make sure you find a commercial mortgage specialist. Commercial financing is a whole different animal. Residential mortgage brokers generally don’t have the experience, skills and contacts needed to efficiently service commercial clients.