EDUCATING POTENTIAL BORROWERS

I feel like commercial mortgage brokers and commercial mortgage lenders need to do a better job of educating potential borrowers about what is required to successfully obtain real property financing. We get numerous submissions for loans in which the broker submitting the loan application on behalf of the borrower have no financial information on the property, no rent roll, no tenant list, no financials on the borrower or borrowing entity, no information on the size or configuration of the property, no executive summary, and sometimes don’t even have an address for the subject property. But they all want to know if we can finance this loan!

It would save enormous time and effort if these mortgage brokers would insist on obtaining pertinent information from potential borrowers BEFORE they attempt to obtain financing and before they shop the loan. Without being provided the necessary information any answer the broker gets is qualified at best and probably misleading.

So, even before brokers deal with borrowers expectations I believe they should inform borrowers of the documentation needed to secure financing. One caveat; if the property is desirable enough and the LTV low enough, most documentation requirements can be waived! But very few loan requests meet this criteria.