East West Commercial Real Estate

Commercial financing has changed dramatically during the past few months. The net result has been a reduction in commercial lenders as well as stricter standards for acquiring commercial loans and commercial mortgages. Unfortunately there has also been no shortage of misinformation about the availability of commercial funding, so an important change issue is to realize that for commercial lending there are both apparent changes and real changes.

As is often the case with financial changes, it remains to be seen how many will be temporary or permanent. But from a practical perspective, commercial borrowers are left with no choice but to adapt to the changing commercial finance environment. Regardless of how long the changes might be kept in place, small business owners must be prepared to operate within a more complicated climate for commercial real estate loans and business financing.

Perhaps the most dramatic change has been a significant reduction in business lending activity overall. This has been due to several events occurring almost simultaneously. Several major commercial lenders have gone out of business altogether. Many banks have stopped business finance lending while continuing consumer lending. Numerous business lenders have enacted stricter standards for the commercial financing transactions they are still willing to consider.

What should commercial borrowers do about this? A primary option that business owners should explore involves looking beyond their local market area for help with commercial real estate financing and other commercial loans. To accomplish this, it should be helpful to contact a working capital financing expert operating throughout the United States.

In addition to fewer business lenders to choose from, there are two other significant changes which must be anticipated by small business owners before seeking new business financing. First, most lenders have cancelled or are about to eliminate unsecured lines of credit for many businesses. Second, commercial lenders are increasingly demanding more collateral for virtually all commercial finance funding.

One effective commercial financing strategy for overcoming the combined obstacles of fewer lenders, more collateral and fewer unsecured credit lines is to consider a business cash advance program based on future credit card processing activity. This is proving to be one of the few sources of commercial funding that has not been adversely impacted by recent events. To learn more, it will be advisable to discuss the potential with a small business financing expert who can provide advice about business cash advances as well as other business finance solutions.

Another key change issue for commercial mortgage loans and working capital loans is simply the likelihood that more changes will be forthcoming in the near future. It is increasingly obvious that many banks will continue to modify their business lending programs in response to changing conditions as they occur.

To adequately prepare for future commercial finance changes that might (or might not) occur is a daunting task for a business owner. A commercial financing expert familiar with Plan B contingency financing for commercial loans will prove to be a valuable resource for any borrower wanting to seriously deal with both current and future changes impacting the financial health of their business.