Searching For a Reputable and Trusted Resource for Hard Money Loans? Private Money Utah Is Your Source!

Interview With A Banker

21 Mar 2010 | 4 Comments | posted by Corey Curwick Dutton | in News

The Truth About Banks and Lending

I convinced a banker friend to submit to an anonymous interview with me.  I agreed to keep the dialogue in the interview completely confidential and anonymous.  For this reason, he was able to admit some pretty shocking things to me. Things that bankers just can’t talk about or admit, without the risk of losing their jobs or worse, getting cut off from the precious TARP money from the government.

Before you read the interview, I am encouraging all of you to contribute your comments below, at the end of this interview.  I expect that most of you won’t be surprised by any of the answers to the questions below, in fact, most of you will think to yourselves, ‘Doesn’t everyone already know this?’

However, the majority of people out there really don’t know what’s happening in banks and lending.  A program that was intended to pull banks, and thus our economy out of this crisis, has only invited more abuse and greed in the banking world, and further delayed inevitable bankruptcy.

• How long have you been with this particular bank?

15 years

• Is this a community bank, a regional bank, or national? Read more..

Is the Second Wave of Real Estate Crisis Hitting the Commercial Property Market?

28 Jul 2009 | 2 Comments | posted by Corey Curwick Dutton | in News

A LinkedIn member, Elaine M. Lyles, posted a July 12th news article that I wanted to start a discussion on.

The article that Elaine posted from the Washington Examiner is titled, “Second Wave of Real Estate Crisis to Hit Commercial Property Market.”

The author, William Flook, seems to have no idea about what’s happening in real estate. The article asserts that the ‘second wave’ of real estate crisis is ‘about to hit.’ This is like saying social media is ‘about to hit.’

The author of the article pins plummeting commercial values and the absence of financing options as the key catalysts for a “second real estate crisis.” Although the author is correct about the catalysts, I think it’s just been one big real estate crisis, and not a crisis number 1 and a crisis number 2. Would anyone else agree, disagree on this assertion?

One interesting thing to note from the article, was the premise behind it. The tax man is finally starting to feel the pain of declining commercial real estate values. This was pointed out by another LinkedIn member who commented on this article, Todd Phillips, Managing Director at Halcyon Equities.

Investors, private lenders, and hard money lenders have all been conservative about their investments in the commercial sector for quite some time. Demanding lower and lower loan to value ratios and highly favorable positions of leverage on some of the choicest properties; this has been the norm with most of my private and hard money lenders for the past year.

More and more commercial property owners, seeking to refinance their commercial loans, are having to seek out a hard money loan instead of a conventional loan. Many of them have multiple commercial properties and an extremely high net worth. With the ever-shrinking number of loan products and lenders, a hard money loan can be the only option for even the biggest commercial players right now.

Any further comments on the “second wave of real estate crisis,” the topic of this article?

Posted by Corey Curwick of Private Money Utah on July 29, 2009 – Leader of LinkedIn Group: Private Money Network

 

 

Developers Stop Beating Your Head Against the Wall—Construction Financing Is Still Available

15 May 2009 | No Comments | posted by Corey Curwick Dutton | in News

I think we all probably know
someone who is having a heck of a time finding construction financing.
Good project, good borrowers, but the bank just won’t budge an inch?
This is a common story in our market. What about developers who are
in the middle of a good project when their banker calls in the loan?
Even my private/hard money lending sources aren’t touching construction
projects right now and that’s scary. 
 
The good news is that private money is still available for construction
projects from $500K to $2MM. I have one investor that is still doing
construction financing while everyone else stands on the sidelines!
We’ve been doing loans with them for 6 years. Here are the highlights/requirements:  
 
—Residential, Commercial Construction Financing Available! (NO RESIDENTIAL
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS!) Currently lending in AK, HI, OR, CA, NV, CO  
—Commercial Construction ONLY in WA, ID, UT, TX (Industrial, office,
multi-family, retail) (No residential)  
—55% Loan to value (based on a realistic valuation) and 65% Loan to
Cost. No reimbursement for entitlement costs already paid.  
—35% of project cost must be brought in by borrower. This can sometimes
be free & clear land that can serve as borrower’s cash in.  
—$500K min. May consider loan amounts down to $350K.

These requirements sound pretty
harsh but they are what they are I suppose. Does anyone else have a
source for construction financing they can share?

New and Old Faces in Private Lending – Crittenden National Conference

12 May 2009 | 1 Comment | posted by Corey Curwick Dutton | in News

I’m just now coming up for air after the Crittenden National Private Lender’s Conference two weeks ago in Vegas.  I met so many great people at the event, from private money lenders and brokers to savvy real estate investors and industry innovators.  You know it’s been a successful networking event when 2 weeks afterward you’re still following up with new contacts.

What is Crittenden? Crittenden National is a meet up of a bunch of different entities within the world of private money.  Hosted this year in Las Vegas by private money players Western Capital Partners, this was my first introduction to the 2009 Conference.  Because the Crittenden Event is so small, only 250 attendees, its easier to network as compared with a large trade show of say thousands of attendees.

The Conference is not just an opportunity for networking with industry profs.  The meat of it is actually comprised of 6 hours of educational sessions where industry executives are panelists that discuss relevant topics and trends in private and commercial lending.  In these sessions, attendees are able to ask questions to panelists and get insight and feedback.  These sessions are a good opportunity to see what challenges others are facing in the industry and creative ways they are overcoming such challenges.

Some of the attendees and panelists included: Western Capital Partners, NonBankLender, LBG Realty Advisors, North Hill Capital Management, Northwestern Mortgage, and of course Corey Curwick from Private Money Utah!

What a great time. I recommend this event for anyone who wants to know what’s happening in the world of private money.

Posted by Corey Curwick on May 12, 2009