Commercial mortgage loans are basically the same as home mortgage loans. Perhaps the main difference between the two is that in a home mortgage, you are using the residential property as the collateral or as a security in cases of non payment. In commercial mortgage loans the business property becomes the collateral. Getting these loans is often done for a lot purposes. It might be that the business is renting the premises and now wants to purchase and own the land it stands on.
It might be also be that the business wants to expand its premises by buying an adjoining property or they may want to improve the current property where their building stands on. Whatever the purpose may be, the business has to need to have a loan.
Certain lenders have their own criteria for whom they want to loan their money to. Commercial mortgage loans, before being approved, have to have the borrower properly investigated financially and personally. The stability of the finances of the borrower has to be in good credit standing. This would give assurance to the lender that the borrower has the capability to have the loan paid in the future.
The main concern of lenders is the availability of the cash of the borrower to make the first payments to the loan. You must have a good credit history so that the lenders would believe that you will be credit worthy. As a borrower, you should also put in some money of your own when purchasing. This is to give assurance to the lender that your cash flow is viable.
Commercial mortgage loans are also approved for businesses that are stable and profitable. The criterion is on the basis that the business will survive the economic conditions of today. After all a lender would not risk lending money to a business that would not be able to have profits enough to pay its loans.
Interest rates of commercial mortgage loans are somewhat dependent on the Federal Government. This is because most banks borrow from the Federal reserves wholesale and break it down to retail to the different borrowers. The federal rates vary every three months due to the demand of certain government bonds in the market. This makes the lenders conscious about the rates they offer to you as a borrower. They want to know if it can be beneficial to them as a company. They must consider that the costs of the funds they give you will not overshadow the income of the interests they charge you. This will result after all to a loss to them.
Today’s credit market is as risky as ever. With the foreclosure of residential properties in the market today due to non payment of loans, the risks of commercial mortgage loans to become unpaid obligations are even greater. The loans in this segment are higher and bigger. This makes it harder to maintain profitability for the lender especially since the economy itself is still recovering from recession and the capability of the borrower becomes limited.