In 2008, the financial crisis caused commercial construction and development to a come to a virtual standstill. Since then, as the economy has slowly recovered, investors have bided their time, hoping for a resuscitation of this vital aspect of the commercial real estate market. That long-awaited rebound may have finally arrived. According to Michael Bull [...]
Montegra's Hard Money Blog
Forecasting the Denver Commercial Real Estate Market: The Numbers (Part 1)
As we move into the spring of 2013 Denver is definitely recovering from the economic recession. This can be seen in the growth in population and jobs as well as the return to pre-slump housing prices and increased number of construction projects. Economist Kevin Thorpe presented the following statistics on Denver’s improved economy as part [...]
Title Insurance: What is it? Why do you need it?
Title insurance is a form of indemnity insurance which insures against financial losses incurred as a result of either defects in title to real estate or unenforceable liens. It protects both the owner’s and the lender’s financial interests in the event of a lawsuit against the title, so the owners title insurance policy is an [...]
How a Hard Money Loan Can Help You Get an SBA 504 Loan
The government-operated SBA 504 program provides funding to small and start-up businesses in order for them to purchase or expand property. These loans provide the borrower with up to 90 percent financing, 25-year loan amortizations, fixed-rate interest rates, and no balloon payments. 2012 was a record year for SBA 504 loans, with 9,741 loans approved [...]
How Hard Money Has Aided Commercial Real Estate Market Recovery
The commercial real estate (CRE) market seems to be on its way to a full recovery as is shown by the 27 percent increase in national transaction volume, which has returned the market to 2004-2005 levels. The local Denver CRE market has also seen a remarkable recovery with last year’s transaction volume increased by 30 [...]
8 Easy Steps to Getting Your Hard Money Loan Approved: Part II
The 4 Cs of Hard Money Loan Approvals Hard money lenders (also know as private money, private capital, and bridge lenders) differ from traditional lenders in numerous ways. There are four important factors to keep in mind when applying for a hard money loan to improve your chances of getting approval for your application. Collateral [...]
8 Easy Steps to Getting Your Hard Money Loan Approved: Part I
A hard money loan will become easier to get if you know what to expect and have answers to your lender’s most likely questions before you begin the process. These eight easy to do steps will assist both borrower and lender alike. Knowing these steps will help you prepare your hard money loan application so [...]
The Line Blurs Between Hard Money Lenders and Hedge Funds: The Increasing Appeal of Commercial Real Estate Investments to Hedge Funds
During the recent economic decline, as banks have reduced their commercial real estate lending due to pressure from Federal regulators, hedge funds have increasingly stepped in to fill the gap. Hedge funds are turning to hard money lending because they view this method of real estate investment as a way to diversify their portfolios and, [...]
The Impact of Rising Interest Rates on Commercial Real Estate: What Any Colorado Hard Money Borrower Should Know
In addition to death and taxes, one certainty of life is that the interest rates that went down will eventually come back up. After the economic collapse of 2008, interest rates hit rock bottom and have stayed there ever since. As the economy recovers, it is not a question of if interest rates will rise, [...]
The “Interest Reserve” – What is it and how to use it to your advantage!
Why would a borrower need an interest reserve? For a traditional real estate lender it is always all about Debt Service Coverage (DSC). If you are looking for a bank loan on an income property the first question the bank will ask you is “what is the DSC ratio?” If your loan payment on the [...]
What Every Hard Money Borrower Should Know About Finding and Buying Distressed Properties
Bridge loans are often used to purchase distress properties, but this does not mean that buying distressed properties is automatically a good deal for a hard money borrower. There are four main categories of distressed property that a borrower may be interested in and each of these categories has its own unique benefits and risks that [...]
Not All Hard Money Lenders Are The Same
Robert Amter – Reality Times – March 2013 Within the real estate industry, hard money lending has an established pedigree of success and credibility. But, and this point bears repeating for any professional who works with residential or commercial (or both) brokers: not all hard money lenders are the same, not every business has a [...]
Crunch Time: $70b of CMBS Debt is Due for Refinance This Year
Robert Amter – Colorado Real Estate Journal – June 2012 The Mayans had it right. 2012 may be the end of the world – at least the commercial mortgage-backed securities world – with a strong probability that commercial banks also will be caught up in the refinancing crunch. Many loans made on commercial real estate [...]
Hard Money Information: Thoughts on Wikipedia’s article
Are you interested in learning more about “hard money”? Have you read Wikipedia’s article? If not, you should. The have the concept down pretty well. Their one sentence definition reads: “A hard money loan is a specific type of asset-based loan financing through which a borrower received funds secured by the value of a parcel [...]