For bankers, CPAs, attorneys, and brokers
Send Me the Deal That Didn't Fit
A decline from one bank says more about that bank's appetite than about the deal. I match commercial loans to lenders that want them, and I keep the person who referred them in the loop.
Who Sends Me Deals
The people your clients already trust, when the first answer they got was no.
Bankers and credit unions
The deal is sound but outside your appetite: a concentration limit, a property type your credit committee avoids, a loan size above your house limit, or a term you can't offer. Send it instead of declining it outright, and your customer leaves with an answer instead of a no.
CPAs and tax advisors
A client wants to buy their building, acquire a business, or pull equity out of a property, and their tax returns don't tell the whole story. I read returns the way an underwriter will and can tell your client early whether SBA, a bank, or a DSCR lender is the right fit.
Attorneys
Partnership buyouts, estate and trust properties that need to be refinanced or bought out of probate, and 1031 exchanges on a deadline. These need financing that works on the legal timeline, and a lender who won't change terms in week five.
Commercial brokers
Your buyer needs financing that will actually close, or your seller has a loan coming due. I can size the loan before the offer goes in, so the deal you write is one a lender will fund.
What Happens After You Refer
- 1
Send the basics
A short email or call: property type, location, the request, and the reason it didn't fit. No full package needed to get an answer.
- 2
An honest read within one business day
Whether it's financeable, which lender types will want it, and roughly what terms look like. If it isn't financeable today, I'll say so and say why.
- 3
You stay informed
With your client's permission, you hear when it's placed, when terms are issued, and when it closes. You're never left wondering what happened to the person you referred.
- 4
Your relationship stays yours
I place the loan. I don't offer bank accounts, treasury services, or tax and legal advice, so there is nothing for me to take. If a lender requires deposits, I'll tell you and your client up front.
Deals I want to see
- Apartments, retail, office, industrial, mixed-use, self-storage, and hospitality
- Owner-occupied buildings through SBA 504 and 7(a)
- Business acquisitions with or without real estate
- Bridge loans for lease-up, renovation, or a maturing loan
- Construction and ground-up development
- Agricultural and oil field properties local banks avoid
Deals I'll pass on
- Deals where the property can't cover its debt at any reasonable leverage
- Borrowers who won't document income or liquidity
- Requests to beat a signed term sheet by a few basis points
Not sure which side a deal is on? Run it through the commercial loan calculator and send me the link it creates.
Dan's Take
Most commercial declines I see aren't about the deal. A bank is near its limit on retail, its credit committee doesn't like oil field property, or the loan is too small to be worth its time. That's a lender problem, and there are a lot of lenders.
I spent years as an underwriter before I originated loans, so I can usually tell you in one conversation whether a deal has a home. When it does, I'll find it. When it doesn't, I'll tell your client what would change that, and you'll look good for having sent them.