Private Money is Active!

Understanding the difference between PRIVATE funding and INSTITUTIONAL funding....

Banking as we once knew it is gone for a very long time. In fact, very few institutional banks funded large commercial projects in 2008. I have substantial visibility into the market and the only institutional activity I saw was banks calling their notes due immediately. Banks were forced to do this because of their own liquidity issues and many developers were left with no funds and the project(s) came to a screeching halt.

"Joe Developer" then knocked on every bank's door only to find the same answer: "sorry, we are not lending right now."

Since the death of institutional banking, the developers have gone to the private equity world to get their projects funded. My company has always worked exclusively in the private equity side of funding and have had to introduce many of these seasoned developers to the private funding world. Fortunately, this world is actually more simple and efficient than the traditional, institutional banking model. There are, however, some differences that anyone seeking private financing for the first time needs to be made aware of.

1. Your private funder usually has his own idiosyncrasies. For example, a funder may only be interested in hospitality projects in Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama. That's just his funding footprint. He knows the area and is comfortable lending there.

2. There are no referrals in the private money world. Period. Your local bank advertises their closings. Private money never discloses their transactions or their clients. Your private funder will have you sign an NCND, which means you cannot even reveal who funded your project. This protects the funder. He does not want to be vetted, interviewed or interrogated. He usually has a "gate keeper" or "master broker" that will qualify you. Once you fit his funding footprint, he will want to meet you face to face. At this point, the funder will give you every comfort level you will need to assure you of his abilities to fund your project.

3. Private money moves fast. If you, as a developer, have all of your business in order, you can fund in as little as a week.

4. Private money has no rules. Every funder has their own terms and will structure a loan in the most "make sense" way for your project. It's best to hear what is offered than tell him what you will accept. As the old addage goes, "the tail will not wag the dog".

Walker Commercial Funding works exclusively with private money sources. Feel free to contact us for more information. 281-852-9422

Bio-Tech is HOT!

If you have any bio-tech projects or clean-tech projects in need of funding/venture capital, please visit our website and find a one of our professionals nearest you.
Thanks,
Brian
walker commercial funding

The truth about appraisers and their role in your commercial transaction

In the recent past, nearly 70% of all commercial appraisals were ordered by the banks that were going to fund the project. Now that banks are absent from the performing funding space, many developers are left with the responsibility of ordering an appraisal. Unfortunately, many of the appraisals they order and submit are simply unacceptable to 90% of our funding sources.

As a rule of thumb, if you don't have an appraisal, don't order one. Let the funder that has an interest in your project suggest one that you use. Otherwise, if you want to order your own appraisal, there are few bits of advice to follow:

1) Ask your mortgage broker who they use and have had success with. Be prepared to spend more than what the local guy quoted you. Your mortgage broker is always going to choose an appraiser he or she has had success with and gotten deals funded with, which is your primary objective.

2) If you want to shop yourself, make sure the appraiser is MAI certified. The acronym stands for Member of the Appraisal Institute. It's no simple achievement to get this accreditation. MAI appraisers must meet the following criteria for accreditation:

• Receive a passing grade on 11 examinations that reflect 380 hours of classroom instruction and that test the appraiser's knowledge of basic and advanced appraisal principles, procedures and applications; report writing; valuation analysis and standards of professional practice
• Receive a passing grade on a four-module, two-day comprehensive examination
• Hold an undergraduate degree from a four-year accredited educational institution
• Experience: Receive credit for 4,500 hours of experience, all of which must meet strict criteria

3) Anyone that is not MAI certified will perform your appraisal at about half the cost, but...it's a fool's errand because your finder is going to require that you get an MAI certified appraisal. So, you end up paying for two appraisals.

4) Try to find someone that is familiar with your area and project type. This enables them to do them faster and at a lower price.

While this is not the appropriate place to give recommendations, feel free to contact me at my office and I'll gladly steer you in the right direction

Do you have tax credits for: Solar, Wind or Low-Income Housing?

If you do, we need to talk. There's a very high probability of Walker Commercial Funding being able to fund your project if you do. Please call Brian Walker at 281-877-8440 or email me brian@walkercf.com.

Walker Commercial Funding Announces A Green Division

Walker Commercial Funding will open its Green Division May 15th. We have made strategic alliances with several funding partners and will be defining specific guidelines and funding parameters over the next thirty days.

To support this division, we are rolling out a new website: www.walkercommercialfunding.org as a central point for information on the new projects and program guidelines. (please forgive it's appearance, we won't hand it over to our web designer until we have finalized the content.)

If you have a green projects, feel free to call us or follow the directions on the website for submission.

Additionally, a portion of the profits generated from all of the green fundings will be donated to a charity yet to be named. If you have one in mind, we would be happy to consider it.

Seeking More Asset Based Lenders

Wanted: Asset Based Lender Looking For A Turn-Key System! Walker Commercial Funding consists of 20 seasoned professionals. We speak 9 languages and live on 4 continents. We have our own in-house underwriting team and can do everything from site visits, underwriting, securing financial guarantees to ordering docs. We know what we are doing!

Our existing relationships are fantastic and we are funding loans, we simply have more more transactions and deal flow than our present funders can handle in a timely manner.

We presently have a $70B pipleine and are looking for ABL and/or investors to help us fund it. To learn more about our company, please see this short You Tube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TezvT21iEgk

Please contact Brian Walker at 281-852-8298 or brian@walkercf.com to take advantage of our "turn-key" opportunity

Dealing With Daisy Chains of Commercial Mortgage Brokers and Working in the Spirit of Cooperation

Only the truth here folks! Please click on the link below from Walker Commercial Funding:

Dealing With Daisy Chains of Commercial Mortgage Brokers and Working in the Spirit of Cooperation

Walker Commercial Funding, Brian Walker

Secondary is Coming Back....

but no one knows exactly when. What this means, is that the secondary market (Wall Street) that buys CMBS (commercial mortgage backed securites) will be revived when the government buys up all of the bad CMBS out there.

There has been zero movement in the secondary market for 18 months. So, hopefully this will help the little guys out there (small balance commercial loans $5M or less).

Walker Commercial funding has always played in the private space so, this is almost irrelevant to us. But it is still good news. I will let you know when there is some actual movement in the market...we hope, for the benefit of everyone, that it is within the next 60 days.
-Brian Walker
Walker Commercial Funding