The Top Private Commercial Real Estate Lenders Include Private Capital Investors, iBorrow, and GoKapital
Private commercial real estate lenders are generally non-bank entities that lend their own money to commercial real estate investors. Sometimes, these private money lenders are also referred to as “hard money lenders,” though, in general, companies advertising themselves mainly as hard money lenders typically offer particularly high interest rates and fees.
The main benefit of choosing a private lender for a multifamily or commercial real estate project is flexibility. Most banks and CMBS lenders have strict lending guidelines; for example, they often have strict net worth and credit score requirements, want sponsors/principals to have tons of experience, and may only provide loans for certain types of property. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD multifamily loans are only for multifamily properties, and, regardless, their requirements are even stricter than banks and conduit lenders.
In addition, in today’s tough lending environment, banks and credit unions are increasingly hesitant to fund commercial construction loans and commercial bridge loans, which are often required for many types of real estate investment and development projects. Plus, those looking to rehabilitate older or distressed commerical properties may also have significant challenges getting financing from a bank or traditional financial institution.
In all of these cases, private commercial lenders fill an important gap, and will often finance quality projects that banks may be unwilling to touch. However, since private commercial lenders are not banks and may not even require a government license to operate, they can vary significantly in quality, customer service, loan terms and amortizations, loan recourse policies, loan pricing, origination fees charged, and other important factors.
Some lenders that list themselves as private commercial lenders are simply small to mid-size hard money lenders that finance commercial properties, some are mainly middle-market commercial bridge lenders, while others are fully-fledged institutions backed by large real estate debt funds or private equity firms.
In this list, we’ve compiled some of the top private commercial real estate lenders of 2024. If you’re looking for a commercial real estate loan but the bank has turned you away, contacting these lenders is a great place to start.
1. iBorrow
Los Angeles-based iBorrow is a highly experienced commercial lending firm, having funded more than $1.5 billion of loans over the last few years. They generally offer commercial bridge loans in amounts between $3 million to $100 million+ and claim that they can close loans in as little as two weeks. iBorrow focuses on providing a streamlined application process for borrowers, with exceptional flexibility, pre-approved LOIs, and significantly less paperwork when compared to a bank.
The company funds all commercial property types, including multifamily, hospitality, industrial, self-storage, and office assets. As a private commercial bridge lender, iBorrow funds value-add and opportunistic property acquisitions, owner-occupied commercial properties, and even funds loans for borrowers with pending litigation. iBorrow is currently led by CEO Brian Good.
2. Private Capital Investors
Dallas, Texas-based Private Capital Investors focuses on providing investors with commercial real estate financing in amounts between $1 million and $50 million, with LTVs up to 85%. Their core financing program offers terms between 3 to 24 months, interest-only payments, and highly-competitive interest rates. Private Capital Investors also provides commercial bridge loans with similar rates, loan sizes, and leverages. However, in contrast to their traditional commercial loan program, their commercial bridge loan program has terms between 1-3 years and requires a DSCR of at least 1.25x at exit.
Private Capital Investors provides loans for all types of multifamily and commercial properties. Unlike most private lenders on this list, the company will also take on higher-risk deals, such as foreclosed property purchases, intensive rehab scenarios, urban land purchases, and financing non-cash-flowing assets. In addition, the company also provides commercial property loans to foreign nationals. Private Capital Investors is currently led by Founder and CEO Keith Thomas.
3. GoKapital
Miami, Florida-based GoKapital focuses on providing loans for both commercial real estate and residential investment properties, as well as financing for small businesses. Their core commercial real estate loan program is incredibly flexible, offering loan amounts from $150,000 to $50 million, terms from 1 to 30 years, both fixed and adjustable-rate interest options, and LTVs up to 80%. They also claim to accept all credit scores, while offering quick underwriting and fast approvals.
GoKaptial’s commercial bridge loan program is somewhat similar, offering loan amounts between $100,000 to $50 million, and typically closing within 2-4 weeks. However, their bridge loan program has much shorter terms, generally 6-24 months, offers lower leverage (between 50% to 70%), and does require a credit check, though a low credit score will not necessarily prevent a borrower from getting approved for a loan.
Like Private Capital Investors, the company also offers foreign national loans for commercial properties. GoKaptial is currently led by Co-Founder and CEO Christian Moreno.
4. Tidal Loans
Houston, Texas-based Tidal Loans is a private commercial lender hat provides a wide array of financial products to real estate investors. In terms of its commercial loan programs, Tidal Loans mainly focuses on loans for rehabbing multifamily properties.
It’s popular multifamily loan program focuses on smaller apartment buildings and offers loans between $500,000 and $20 million, with 85% LTC (loan-to-cost) and 70% ARV (after repair value), and terms between 12-24 months. Their long-term financing multifamily loans provide financing with terms up to 30 years with loan sizes between $500,000 and $5 million.
For their non-multifamily commercial loan programs, the lender provides commercial bridge loans and commercial rehab loans up to 65% LTV. They also provide long-term, 30-year, fully-amortizing commercial loans up to 70% LTV and 80% CLTV. All loans offered by Tidal Loans are non-recourse.
5. Integra Real Estate Capital
Unlike most of the companies on this list, New York City-based Integra Real Estate Capital is a commercial mortgage broker rather than a direct lender, though it does have deep relationships with a variety of private commercial lenders.
Their popular commercial bridge loan program offers financing with an LTC (loan-to-cost) of up to 85% and is available for multifamily properties, shopping centers, industrial and warehouse properties, hotel and hospitality properties, and office buildings. These loans typically offer a 12-36 month initial term, with an opportunity to extend if needed.
DSCRs generally need to be above 1.00x, but exceptions can be made for properties with exceptionally strong business plans. Integra will help finance deals in a variety of scenarios, including refinancing construction loans, purchasing foreclosed properties, and providing commercial property loans for foreign nationals.
Also unlike many of the lenders on this list, most of the bridge loans offered by Integra’s network of lenders are fully non-recourse, meaning that the lender cannot attempt to go after a borrowers’ personal assets should they default on their loan. Integra Real Estate Capital is currently led by Managing Partner Russell Kimyagarov.
6. RainStar Capital Group
RainStar Capital Group is a private equity real estate lender that offers perhaps the widest array of lending options, at least by prospective loan size. The company provides financing in amounts between $100,000 and $10 billion. Like Integra Real Estate Capital, RainStar is mainly a commercial loan brokerage firm that promises to connect borrowers to its network of over 250 high-quality national commercial real estate lenders. However, they do have a direct private lending arm, Rainstar Development Capital, which focuses on funding subdivisions, multifamily, mixed-use, condo towers, and senior and student housing projects across the United States.
In addition to commercial real estate financing, Rainstar also offers business lending, merchant cash advances, invoice financing, asset-based lending, and equipment financing services to a wide array of clients. Rainstar Capital Group is currently led by CEO Kurt Nederveld.
7. Fairview Commercial Lending
Sandy Springs, Georgia-based Fairview Commercial Lending is a direct private money and hard money lender that provides both residential and commercial hard money loans. Their commercial hard money loan program requires minimal documentation, has no minimum credit score requirement, and no upfront documentation or reporting fees. Loans can generally close with 10 days.
Unlike many lenders, Fairview Commercial Lending is extremely flexible when it comes to a variety of borrower situations, and is willing to lend to clients with liens, judgements, or unpaid bills on their property. They provide loans to owner-occupied commercial properties, as well as funding borrowers in foreclosure avoidance situations, complex deals with multiple pieces of collateral, and will also provide foreign national loans. Fairview Commercial Lending is currently led by President, Founder, and CEO Lawrence Weinburg.
8. Plum Lending
San Francisco, California-based Plum Lending is a nationwide direct private real estate lender that mainly focuses on middle-market assets in secondary markets. Their permanent commercial loan program provides financing in amounts between $3 million to $50 million, with large loans subject to individual approval. Loan terms are generally between 5-10 years, but Plum does offer loans up to 20 years on a case-by-case basis, with LTVs up to 75%, and LTCs up to 85%. These loans generally have amortizations of up to 30 years with partial or full-term interest-only loans also available.
Their popular bridge loan program also offers financing in amounts between $3 million to $50 million, with large loans subject to individual approval. As one might expect, their bridge loan program is significantly more flexible than their permanent loan program, allowing for both transitional and value-add projects. Loan terms are generally between 1-5 years, with a maximum LTC of between 80-90%. Most commercial bridge loans are interest-only. Both Plum’s permanent and bridge loan programs have flexible recourse options, as well as flexible prepayment penalties. Plum Lending is currently led by Founder, Chairman, and CEO Bill Fisher.
9. BridgeWell Capital
Orlando, Florida-based BridgeWell Capital is a direct private lender that currently operates in more than 20 states across the U.S. BridgeWell Capital funds multifamily, mixed-use, office, retail, and flex-industrial properties, and has funded more than $500 million of loans over the last few years. Their multifamily bridge loan program is specifically designed for multifamily rehab and value-add scenarios.
In addition to commercial real estate loans, BridgeWell also has a strong focus on financing 1-4 unit properties, and has well-established fix-to-flip, fix-to-rent, and rental property loans, as well as residential cash-out refinances up to $1 million. BridgeWell Capital is currently led by President John Parrett.
10. CSG Investments
Plano, Texas-based CSG Investments is an institutional real estate investment firm and direct lender that focuses on large real estate projects, generally offering loans in amounts between $50 million to $750 million. They offer a variety of both simple and complex financing solutions, allowing a variety of types of collateral, including business assets (such as PP&E). They also focus on non-traditional transactions, as well as debtor-in-possession financing. In certain situations, they will also offer second-lien loans to qualified real estate projects. Both primary syndications and secondary market purchases are eligible for financing.
CSG will finance an extremely wide pool of property types, including traditional commercial real estate, manufacturing companies, hotels and casinos, oil and gas businesses, electrical power plants, shipping yards, transportation and logistics facilities, and natural resources-based real estate. CSG Investments is currently led by President Jacob Cherner.
In Conclusion: Private Commercial Lenders Vary Greatly, So Doing Research is Key
As you can see, private commercial lenders range from small local companies to large institutions, and every lender has their own niche that they specialize in. While some lenders may only want to finance stabilized properties in major markets, others may specialize in bridge loans for intensive rehab, value-add scenarios, or even new construction financing.
Overall, there are a wide array of considerations to take into account when choosing a private lender. Some of these include:
Lender reputation
Interest rates
Leverage/Max. LTC/LTV
Minimum DSCR
Loan terms
Loan amortizations
Origination fees
Prepayment penalties
Loan recourse provisions
Loan extensions
Credit requirements
Loan uses (i.e. rehab, value-add)
While personally shopping for a lender can be a great way to get started, it may not be the only solution. In many scenarios, you may want to consider contacting a commercial mortgage broker that may be able to match you to the lender that best fits your needs. In general, commercial loan brokers have access to a much wider array of lenders than the average investor and (if they’re good), a broker may be able to negotiate on your behalf to reduce interest rates and origination fees, extend loan terms or amortizations, or even alter a loan’s recourse provisions to reduce your legal risk.
FAQ
What Types of Properties Do Private Commercial Real Estate Lenders Finance?
Private commercial real estate lenders vary significantly in terms of what properties they fund. Most will fund all conventional property types, such as multifamily, hotel/hospitality, retail, office, senior living, student housing, and industrial, with many also funding self-storage facilities. Niche lenders may fund owner-occupied commercial real estate and more exotic types of real estate, such as oil and gas fields, casinos, factories, farmland, or other higher-risk assets.
What Kind of LTV Do Private Commercial Lenders Provide?
The maximum LTV, or loan-to-value ratio, allowed by private commercial lenders can vary from lender to lender. Most private lenders will provide between 70-85% LTV. Construction loans, as well as commercial rehab loans (often structured as bridge loans) may sometimes go up to 90-90% loan-to-cost (LTC).
What are the Interest Rates for Private Commercial Loans?
Interest rates for private commercial real estate financing loans vary from lender to lender, with some lenders providing loans at as little as 6-7% for qualified borrowers. On the other hand, some lenders may offer loans of 10% or more, but these are often higher-risk bridge loans for properties that are not quite stabilized, or, alternatively, new construction loans.
What are the Origination Points and Fees for Private Commercial Loans?
Private commercial lenders have varying origination points and fees, but fees often range between 1-3%, with fees for permanent financing generally a bit lower than those for bridge loans. These loans may also often come with prepayment penalties that could come in the form of yield maintenance or step-down-based fee arrangements.
What are the Terms for Private Commercial Property Loans?
Commercial loan terms vary greatly by the lender, with bridge loans typically starting with one-year terms. On the other hand, some private lenders offer permanent commercial loans with terms and amortizations of up to 30 years for stabilized properties.
Can I Get a Cash-Out Refinance From An Private Commerical Lender?
Some, but not all private lenders provide commercial cash-out refinances, though each has their own specifications when it comes to LTV, points, and interest rates.
How Fast Can s Private Commercial Real Estate Loan Close?
One of the main benefits of working with private lenders is that their loans close significantly faster when compared to banks or other lending institutions. Private “hard money” lenders might be able to lose loans in as little as 24-48 hours, while institutional private lenders may take a few weeks to close. In general, very large loans may take longer to close due to the additional underwriting and due diligence that is required.