Economic forecasts are pointing to, at best, a slow-down in the Baltimore-Washington
Metro area economy over the next two years, as well as a slow-down in the commercial real estate market. Lending and securitization of large
commercial properties has deteriorated dramatically. Small business commercial real estate lending is predicted to follow suit. The latest Fed
Senior Loan Officers Survey was released last week and the survey reveals that banks continue to aggressively tighten their credit
standards to an unprecedented degree.
The availability of home equity loans to fund larger down payments for conventional
commercial financing is also slowing due to declining residential real estate values and tighter underwriting criteria.
At Business Finance Group, we are in the economic development lending business, and there are plenty of dollars authorized for the program.
We are ready to help our lending partners increase their loan volume in a difficult market by mitigating the risk currently perceived in small
business real estate transactions. Additionally, we provide your customer
with an excellent financing package while preserving their working capital for operations. Give us a call to see how we can help you do more loans!
Closing Department Changes
In an effort to simplify the 504 closing process for our first trust lending partners, we have changed our process of assigning loans to our closing team.
Beginning the first of February, each of our four closing processers will be assigned to a bank and will handle all of their closings (To avoid
confusing borrowers and bankers for loans approved previously and assigned to a closing processor, those assignments will not be changed).
Your assigned closing processor will be available to help you with questions, to look for ways to work with your bank’s systems more efficiently, to
work with the bank’s processors, and to provide training. We look forward to your input as we implement this new process! Please give us your
feedback!
Upcoming 504 Seminar
Business Finance Group, Commerce First Bank, and j-ref (Jim Rouse Entrepreneurial Fund) are hosting a seminar for bankers, realtors,
accountants, and attorneys at Howard Community College on March 5th beginning at 8 am. The seminar will include a detailed presentation on the
504 program, including closing information from one our attorneys and closing processors, information from j-ref on how alternative financing
can be used in conjunction with the 504 loan program, and a presentation from an environmental expert on 504 environmental requirements.
If you would like more information, click here to view the flyer
, or contact Fran Hensen at fghensen@verizon.net .
To RSVP, please contact Brenda Miller (bmiller@businessfinancegroup.org or 800-305-0504).
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