Tag Archives: area

Obtaining an Office Building Commercial Loans

Office buildings are a huge part of the community fabric. They create jobs, promote more business to come into the area and generate revenue for the entire community through their businesses. Office buildings, specifically ones with multiple tenants or very strong credit rated tenants, can be eligible for extremely favorable terms.

Property ownership of an office building can transfer many times over several decades, with new investors coming in and reworking the building, its tenants and its general look. Of course, the investment process for office buildings varies from that of other property types. Office buildings are often driven through the location, management skill and quality of their tenants.

Financing for an office building depends on a number of different considerations that go beyond the ability of the borrower to pay back the loan. Some things that have to be considered are the loan to value and debt coverage ratio. Typically, excluding SBA financing, an office building will need a loan to cover 80-90 percent of the purchase price, with the investor putting a 10-20 percent down payment on the building. Also, the debt coverage ratio should not be less than 1.2, which would require the borrower to generate a net cash flow that is 120 percent of the debt service amount.

Other factors need to be looked at with an office building commercial loan, including how many tenants have come into the building and left in the past ten or so years, and how many tenants are currently in a lease agreement, at that moment. If most of the tenants are in their fourth year of a ten year lease, then it is possible, after looking at rollover and renewal scenarios, that the debt coverage ratio will not be enough for the borrower to pay off.

Location for the office building should be considered, as well as its design and workmanship. Physical factors, such as these, will affect whether businesses move into the area, and into that building. Commercial lenders will look at the market-wide statistics of the building, including whether or not there is a high vacancy rate in the community, economic vitality of the area and the development activity.

For a good quality office building, the typical interest rate varies between 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent over a ten year term with a 25-30 year amortization period. Since office buildings are so dependent on the market, local economy, location and other characteristics, it can be difficult for a borrower to secure a commercial loan in softer markets. If there is a high vacancy in the building, then financing most likely will not be approved. However, on that note, if the building has a good history of constant tenants, and is in a good location, then there is a good chance the loan will be approved by the commercial lender.

Any borrower should have an excellent business plan before approaching a lender. Understanding the market and viability of the area the office building is in will help determine if a loan is approved or not. Be sure to do the research before approaching a lender. Get more information

Financing a new home in Chicago (Page 1 of 2)

Chicago is the largest city in the state of Illinois and also the third most populated city in the United States of America, with almost 3 million people. Chicago is located along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and when combined with its suburbs and the nine surrounding counties in Illinois, the metropolitan area known as Chicagoland encompasses a population of 9.4 million. Nowadays Chicago is known as a major transportation, business, and architectural center of the US and it is the economic, business, financial and cultural capital of the Midwest. The Chicago area is moderately expensive; the home price median here is nearer the national median than homes in spots such as New York City. Buyers can probably spend about three times their incomes, depending on the part of the area where they’re house-hunting.

Chicago’s suburban real estate market is as vibrant as the city itself. The suburbs have developed both commercial as well as residential real estate at a tremendous pace. A large number of properties are always available for purchase in Chicago’s suburban areas such as Lake County, Kane and DeKalb counties and DuPage and Will counties. There are real estate firms that specialize in one of the suburbs, while others deal with all of them. When financing a new home in Chicago, have in mind that the real estate prices are high. Northern suburbs are considered “elite”.

There are many ways to finance a new home in Chicago. It all depends on your credit history, the price of the property and your income. The next paragraphs give brief explanations on some of the methods for financing a new home in the city of Chicago.

The first thing to understand is the difference between a variable, or adjustable interest rate mortgage and a fixed rate mortgage. With a fixed rate mortgage, the monthly payments remain the same over the period of the loan. The adjustable rate mortgage has a lower introductory interest rate, but it may vary over the duration of your loan. So depending on the interest rates, whether they are lowered or raised each month, your monthly mortgage payments will also change accordingly.

When financing your new Chicago home through a loan, no matter if it is adjustable or fixed rate, you have to consider the length of the loan, in terms of how long you finance your home. The most common terms are 15, 25, 30, 40 and now even 50 year mortgages in some areas. Of course, the longer the period the more you will pay in interest over the duration of the loan.

With a FHA home loan you can purchase a single family home, condo, house, or apartment in one of the neighborhoods in Chicago. This FHA home loan is mostly used by first time home buyers because it allows the purchase of a home with a lower down payment, in some cases as low as 3%. This form of new home financing requires you to have a good credit history and enough income to cover the loan and your other financial obligations.

The Chicago City Mortgage program offers qualified first-time homebuyers 30-year, fixed-interest mortgages at competitive interest rates and a gift of 4 percent of the mortgage amount to cover down payment and closing costs.