Category: Commercial Mortgage Lending

NEW CRE PLATFORM ALLOWS INVESTORS TO SET IT AND FORGET IT

by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage LendingLeave a Comment on NEW CRE PLATFORM ALLOWS INVESTORS TO SET IT AND FORGET IT

San Francisco-based AlphaFlow has launched the first automated real estate investment service of its kind. The firm, which specializes in passive online real estate investment, now offers AlphaFlow Managed Portfolios — where it will build, manage and rebalance a portfolio of 75 to 100 real estate loans for investors. It is basically a “set it and forget it” service for real estate investors. “For the first time, investors can 100% passively invest in a diversified real estate portfolio at any time. It is ultimately a simpler, more intelligent way to invest in real estate,” AlphaFlow CEO Ray Sturm said. “Our investors were happy with their returns, but we weren’t meeting all of their needs, so we stepped back and designed a new platform from the ground up.”

View entire article on Biznow.com website

If your looking for funding for a small commercial real estate loan contact Liberty Realty Capital to discuss your financing needs.

 

The CMBS Wall of Maturities—Cracking the CMBS Code

by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage LendingLeave a Comment on The CMBS Wall of Maturities—Cracking the CMBS Code

Commercial mortgage refinancing

Let’s take a walk down commercial real estate memory lane. In 2007, life was good, you had a nice project throwing off good cash flow, cap rates were low, values were high and you hit the jackpot! You refinanced, you maxed out proceeds, you got cheap, fixed-rate, 10-year money. Heck, you may have even repaid your equity!

Then, later that year and “officially” for the next 18 months (but really, the next five years) came the Great Recession. You heard all the horror stories of failed real estate projects, failed banks, sponsors being sued, but you made it through, you were smarter than those guys, locked into cheap, non-recourse, long-term money, and you were good to go.

Unfortunately, now your loan is maturing and market conditions, such as increased interest rates and a lackluster recovery, are such that you cannot refinance or sell the property and generate the proceeds you need to pay off this wonderful loan. Don’t worry, you are not alone, you are now part of the $192.9 billion “CMBS Wall of Maturities.”

View entire article here in National Real Estate investor.

If you have a commercial real estate project in need of refinancing contact Liberty to discuss.

Inside Sears’ death spiral

by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment on Inside Sears’ death spiral

Sears Store

How an iconic American brand has been driven to the edge of bankruptcy

One morning in late 2015, on Sears’ vast Illinois campus, more than a dozen employees huddled in a videoconference room on a floor dubbed “B6.”

There two mid-level employees were preparing a presentation for the CEO, Eddie Lampert, when their boss rushed in with some last-minute advice.

On a chart pad he wrote three words.

“He looks at the presenters and says, ‘Do not say these words to that guy,'” according to a former Sears executive who described the meeting to Business Insider. “That guy” meant Lampert, who would soon appear on a giant projector screen at the front of the room, beamed in live from a home office inside a $38 million Florida estate — 1,400 miles away from headquarters.

The pad with the three words was out of sight of Lampert’s video feed. One of the words on it was “consumer.”

Read entire article here in Business Insider

 

“Problem” Loans Create a Drag on CMBS Refinancing

by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage LendingLeave a Comment on “Problem” Loans Create a Drag on CMBS Refinancing

Park Place

There is no question that the mountain of CMBS loan maturities hanging over the commercial real estate market has been shrinking. Yet there is still a heavy load of high-leverage loans searching for refinancing capital at a time when the CMBS market is battling its own liquidity crunch.

At the start of 2015, there was an estimated $300 billion in CMBS loans set to mature by the end of 2017. The fact that that volume has dropped by about two thirds, to $103 billion as of Oct. 1, is certainly good news.

Read entire article in National Real Estate Investor.

Check out more about real estate mortgage financing here or visit Liberty Realty Capital.

 

Banks Tightening CRE Lending Standards

by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment on Banks Tightening CRE Lending Standards

Financing

CRE Loan Growth Still Strong but Moderates in July as Analysts Sees More “Rationality” Return to the Market

Second quarter bank earnings results and early third quarter lending numbers clearly show U.S.-based banks have tightened their underwriting standards for CRE loans as they face increased scrutiny of their commercial real estate lending from bank examiners.

In fact, loan officers at domestic banks reported that the current standards are tighter now than they have been on average since 2005, according to the latest Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey from the Federal Reserve.

The tighter underwriting is showing up in shortened interest-only periods and lower loan-to-value (LTV) ratios as well.

Read entire article on CoStar.com

To find out more about commercial real estate financing options contact Liberty Realty Capital

Best and Worst Apartment Markets in 2016

by Randybaconin Commercial Mortgage Lending, Real EstateLeave a Comment on Best and Worst Apartment Markets in 2016

Multifamily Financing

It’s a tough time to pick the strongest apartment markets. That’s because the markets with the strongest demand from renters are also the places where developers are the most eager to build new projects. As a result, the strongest and weakest markets so far in 2016 tend to be places where some kind of surprise has upset developers’ calculations—for better or worse.

Strong despite new supply

Rents are growing quickly in a few cities, including Seattle and Nashville, Tenn., despite very high levels of new construction. “The San Francisco Bay Area, Denver and Seattle have easily been the best performing major markets this cycle,” says Jay Denton, vice president with data firm Axiometrics. “Of that group, Seattle is the only one that remains in the upper-tier of rent growth today.”

Read entire post in National Real Estate Investor here.

Find out more about our commercial real estate lending programs and contact us to discuss your funding needs.