Over the past few years, the commercial real estate firms that have performed as front runners are also the ones that have married the lending aspect to their brokerage and relationship capability. While these upper tier firms commonly work on a variety of product types, and typically place loans for properties that are $10M and greater, MREA works with multiple lenders to assist in placement of loans for individual healthcare business and real estate portfolios.

With a continued challenging landscape, it is now the responsibility of the commercial real estate firm to attract customers with their financial prowess and lender relationships, even more so than their knowledge of real estate, whatever the level of comprehension.

Locating a lender for your healthcare real estate interests is commonplace for MREA. But before you allow us to initiate the process, we have some ideas that may assist in obtaining a loan:

1. Prior to sending the healthcare loan package to a lender, contact MREA to research the probability and availability of lenders for the scenario. Lenders are comfortable working with qualified commercial real estate representatives to “run a deal”. This assists the lending efforts and helps to avoid components that may be contentious or irrelevant to a review.
2. It is important that when sending the loan package to reduce its overall size.  A two or three page Executive Summary that is delivered by email with a “CC” of a commercial real estate reference is the most effective form of introduction to your financial interests.
3. Make certain that the Executive Loan Summary includes at least one photograph of the property. The majority of MREA’s lender relationships will visit the property, but the inclusion of some kind of visual identification will allow the lender time for reflection and necessary due diligence.
4. When a commercial real estate loan officer receives a PDF by email, commonly they are suspect of what may be included in the package, so including a short email describing the components is necessary to receive priority status.
5. It is customary for MREA, or the customer or client, to follow up with the lender shortly thereafter to verify its receipt. In our experience, emailing the package to multiple lenders all at once is extremely discouraging and will not gain the attention of the most qualified lenders.
6. Based on your specific scenario, if one of our preferred real estate lender(s) cannot procure the loan, then it is important to recognize that efforts need to be made to remedy the concerns prior to its reissuance. Our lenders range in size, scope, service and fees — never qualifications.
7. This said, not all lenders are alike and, depending on their (or your) level of commitment and comprehension, the Loan Committee may never be introduced to your loan. Thus, it is imperative to host key, influential relationships to receive a greater level of service and attention.
8. Based on our experience, determining the motivation of the lender is key to placing a loan. Among others, are they improving their healthcare portfolio and/or how are they incentivized may be important to their overall capabilities.
9. Lastly, utilizing MREA’s free data storage to load the entire package has now become essential to our lenders’ assessment. This allows them the freedom to access loan documents (tax returns, financial statements, etc.) as needed.

Whether it is recognized or not, the commercial real estate marketplace is advancing and, without the necessary level of financial comprehension and real estate specialization, overall client service will continue to decline and potential opportunities will not be realized.