Initial sniff test: Since 1994 we have closed commercial real estate transactions across the country in as little as 8 days – we have learned that less is more. We are far more likely to close a transaction with a borrower or broker that tells us a brief, compelling story about why we should make a loan on a property and gets us a few critical pieces of paper than with borrowers or brokers that bury us with 3 inches of paper or 30 megs of meaningless data.

It ain’t rocket science, it's just real estate: Tell us the “story” of the deal, the opportunity, the economics and the players involved. Our goal is to tell you YES or NO in our first phone call and not waste your time. If we can’t get it done through our network of investors we can often refer you to someone that can. Here is what we'll need to look at immediately:

- Executive Summary & Loan Request (click here for sample)
- Proforma (click here for sample)
- Current Rent Roll and/or Source & Use of Funds (senior debt, mezz, equity, purchase price, rehab costs, soft costs, etc.) (click here for a sample)

Assuming we want more information please get us:

- Detailed Business Plan / Loan Package
- Historical financial information on the property: Trailing 12 financials. Year end 2008 and 2009 financials
- Current rent roll detailing unit number, tenant, square footage and monthly rent with lease start and end dates
- Detailed Property Description including location, address, age, number and size of units, general physical aspects of the property (pitched or flat roof, stucco over block or frame construction, etc.) (click here for sample)
- Color photos (10 or more exterior and interior digital photos)
- Detailed background on borrower(s) owning 20% or more including: personal financial statement, 3 years of federal tax returns, resume, ownership track record, management experience and signed credit/background check authorization form
- Purchase & Sale contract (for acquisition loan)

For Hospitality projects we will also require:

- Smith Travel Research (STR) Report
- Trailing 12-month P&L

For SBA lending we will need:

- Executive Summary (be sure to talk about Sponsor's track record, NW, Liquidity, Management abilities & recent credit score)
- Property Photos (inside and outside in jpeg format)
- Sponsor's Personal Financial Statement
- Sponsor's Detailed Resume
- Loan Request Amount & Use of Funds (detail debt to be repaid and if it is a SBA loan)
- YTD and/or trailing 12 months P&L on the business
- Three years of tax returns (all schedules and K1s) on Sponsor and the business

Once we have a meeting of the minds on general business terms we will need:

- Name, address, phone & fax of borrowers counsel
- Name, address & Tax ID# of ownership entity
- Copies of leases (if applicable)
- Latest MAI Appraisal (if available)
- Environmental report (if any)
- Engineering Report (if any)
- ALTA Survey
- Title insurance policy
- Copies of all pertinent real estate tax and utility bills