Small business owners and commercial property investors looking to finance their properties have many things to consider, especially if they are unable to get a bank loan. Covid 19 and the ensuing economy has created an overabundance of “risk aversion” for commercial banks. It’s important for borrowers to understand what their options are, how to leverage those options, and how to protect themselves when seeking financing.

Hard money, everything else being equal, should not be your first choice after a bank turndown – low loan to value, high costs and onerous terms. Moreover, if you are seeking more reasonable terms for your borrowed funds, you’ll need to look at: credit, collateral and capacity to repay.

Whether you’re dealing with past credit issues, an inability to verify your income to a bank’s satisfaction, or simply need a commercial mortgage faster than a bank can provide, non-bank commercial lenders are a great resource for non-bankable borrowers. These lenders understand alternate documentation, how to support the decisions being made that make sense but are not necessarily confined by federal banking documentation requirements. An example of this is accepting bank statements showing revenue as opposed to tax returns.

This is also an opportunity to “fine-tune” your business, making sure you have your sales and marketing up to speed, that you not only have continuity of income but diversity as well. Any good consultant will also review your business in view of industry standards and current trends to assure that you have not missed anything.