How to Submit a "Quickie Question"

I call them "Quickie Questions", and I use the technique every single day. I fire off email questions to my favorite lenders in a very brief format, in just a couple of sentences, asking if they have interest in a certain loan scenario. Not all lenders have a front man or woman with this ability, but I have ones that do. I absolutely HATE filling out application forms. I give them what they need and they respond with a "YES, proceed with the usual paperwork." or "NO". Of course, after they see the paperwork it could still turn into a "NO", but at least I didn't have to do all that paperwork just to find out.

I encourage borrowers or brokers to do the same with White Knight. But there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Here is an example of the wrong way, an actual email I just got today:



"i need funding for Business Acquisition financing 2-2.7 m what are terms fees and condition. Thank You"

This was my reply:

"Hello ____,
Generally, if you have money to put down, have good credit, have experience in the business you are acquiring, and the property is cash flowing, you can get terms as low as 5.8% which are fixed for 3 years amortized over 25 or 30. If you want longer fixed periods of 5 or 10 years, the rate creeps up. Fees are entirely lender-dependant, from 0-4%. My fee for services for something like this is usually around one point, but this is negotiable if lender points come in too high to make sense. Of course you are asking a very open ended question, and loans in my world are so dependant on your own characteristics and business characteristics that even "yes" answers to all of the above could result in an outright denial. I am happy to discuss your scenario over the phone and I may be able to determine if you have a do-able deal in a very short conversation. please call me at ____"


So the bottom line here is, we really need more to go on. Short emails like this are a waste your time...If you don't want to talk on the phone right away, email is fine, but please try to include the information below: (and please be as detailed as you are comfortable in being. Know that we take privacy and confidentiality very seriously. We would never share your information with anyone without your permission.)

1)the location of the project, 2) the loan amount, 3)what you are contributing to the deal, 4)what you want to use the money for, 5)how long you need it, 6)how you intend to pay it back, 7)what is the collateral and what is it worth?

If you present this, I can usually determine very quickly whether we can help or not, and give you feedback on how to proceed. Also, if I get a lot of the same questions all the time, I do try to address them on our website. Please check that over for all kinds of information.

Here's to making our days more efficient and productive!

Great Commercial Rates Available!

I admit it, I usually focus on non-bank funding since the banks all but froze up, but I recently discovered a very nice small balance commercial loan program available through a national bank. Under this program, which will make loans under $500K, amortized over 30 years, I got quoted rates as low as 5.8% fixed for three years, 6.5% for five years, and 7.6% for ten years. The rate is credit score driven so will be higher given lower scores.

I was quoted these rates for $375K loan to refinance a small (8 unit) apartment building in NY, a good point to note because not many lenders like apartment buildings these days... Our fee to pkg & deliver the funding on this deal was 1.25%.

I don't know about you but so far this is making for a Happy New Year!