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Because of a deteriorating commercial lending environment, some of our earlier advice is now likely to be especially relevant for many businesses. Banks are currently saying “no” more frequently than they have in decades, and we provided advice a few years ago about what actions business owners should consider if their bank rejected a small business financing request.

As described in this article, while a bank saying “no” is not an outcome that any business owner would hope for, it can eventually lead to an overall improvement in commercial financing options under many circumstances. Small business owners are increasingly hearing their bank say “no” to requests for needed business financing and working capital. Most commercial borrowers are often not sure what to do next since such an awkward situation represents uncharted waters for them.

Banks are routinely saying “no” to small businesses which are both profitable and long-term customers. It is now common to hear phrases such as “thinking outside the bank” and “business loans without banks” when talking about strategies small business owners might need to analyze because this has become such a widespread commercial lending problem.

There are two financing situations that businesses should especially be prepared for banks saying “no”. One of these involves commercial real estate loans and the other working capital financing (including business lines of credit). While a small number of banks are still proving to be reliable sources for some business financing options, recent nationwide commercial lending reports clearly show a drastic reduction in commercial loans for commercial real estate financing and working capital loans.

Small businesses have only rarely pursued the option of replacing their bank. However, an astute business owner will quickly realize that they have little recourse but to pursue such a path when their bank says “no” to routine requests for business financing. Improvements to the overall financial health of a business will be achieved in a pleasantly surprising number of cases even though this search for new commercial finance alternatives is undertaken under protest by most commercial borrowers. Keep in mind that in many cities and communities, one or two banks frequently operate in a near monopoly environment. When small business owners have literally been forced to find new business finance options, they are often pleased to discover that they can not only replace existing bank financing satisfactorily but also improve their bottom line in the transition.

A prudent starting point for commercial borrowers to adequately evaluate how to get working capital and other business loans when their bank says “no” is likely to be a lengthy conversation with a small business financing expert. Finding and selecting such an expert will not be a quick or easy task for business owners, but this step is likely to be critical to eventual success in formulating a strategy for obtaining new sources of effective commercial finance funding. Ensuring that the commercial financing expert chosen is totally independent and not affiliated in any way with the bank which said “no” is an especially crucial aspect not to be overlooked in locating a reliable expert to help.

THE MINISTER for Finance will be granted sweeping powers under a new Bill that will provide the basis for a complete overhaul of the Irish banking system.

People investing in real estate look for capital providers, who will offer the level of capital they need as well as the rate, term, pricing, closing time frame, exit and prepayment options, and recourse provisions. These must suit their individual needs, as well as any value added features on the offer. Choose a capital provider with whom the individual can develop a good, long lasting, working relationship as well as providing the broadest access to the much-needed capital. Those who are experts in dealing with real estate investments are ideal capital providers. There are direct, indirect, and hybrid lenders that provide capital to real estate investors. Banks are direct lenders.

Dealing with Banks to Get Finances for Real Estate Investing
Banks are the most preferred capital providers as they have excellent staff and have expertise in the local real estate market. Most of the loans offered by banks are short term, full recourse loans that are not competitive by nature. Banks are acknowledged to be the best source for procuring capital needed for investing in real estate.

It is necessary to prove to the loan officer of the bank that your investment is a low risk one, by carefully presenting the application for the loan. All your achievements and your track record of good investment strategies will help in showing you are a low risk investment for the bank. Having a good credit profile as well as a good credit report are added advantages. Having a well-drafted business plan of how you are going to develop and implement the plan, including the cash flow forecasts in case you are in the construction sector, using an asset as collateral, and having confidence in your venture, will help in securing the loan at interest rates that are not too harsh. Select a bank that has expertise in your area of real estate as they may have value added services that can benefit you.

Developing a good relationship with the bank, making payments on time and repaying the loan will help, as they will be ready to finance you in future should there be a need for it. Having a good action plan to make your real estate investment pay good returns and a firm commitment to repay debts are what loan officers look for in any applicant. You can seek the help of the bank in planning your strategies and finding out if there is any means by which you can cut costs using the banks team of experts to guide you. When the bank is actively involved in planning, greater project profitability can be expected as well as aid in utilizing the borrowed money to get maximum results. Dealing with banks to get finances for real estate investing is an important aspect of this sector.

Additional Help
There are firms that offer help to new businesses investing in real estate. These firms offer services and software that shall aid you in the process of obtaining real estate and making money from it.

For small business owners, one of the most perplexing situations is a realization that there are now essentially “good banks” and “bad banks”. To make matters worse, it is rarely easy to distinguish between the good and bad ones. For many commercial borrowers, business finance consulting has emerged as a helpful tool to determine which banks are still effective. But overall, the world of banking has changed dramatically for almost everyone, and many business borrowers are angry and confused by a new commercial banking landscape that does not seem to be working very well.

One of the more difficult aspects associated with the “good bank and bad bank” analogy is that there are so many competing explanations as to what constitutes a “good bank”. One popular analysis has focused on how much banks are really worth in view of the toxic assets that are so complicated to evaluate. In this perspective, “bad banks” are those whose assets are estimated to be worth less than their liabilities and as a result have been referred to as “zombie banks” and “dead banks walking”.

Not surprisingly we have not yet experienced a bank which has openly agreed that their liabilities exceed their assets and therefore they should be considered to be a zombie bank. This would be tantamount to describing themselves as a bankrupt bank. If a bank is truly deserving of the bankrupt status (and there are a number which certainly appear to be in this category), the current banking laws do not permit such a bank to go through the kind of bankruptcy process being considered by General Motors and Chrysler.

Instead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is supposedly required by law to assume the operation of the bankrupt bank until a new management and ownership arrangement can be established. For a number of smaller banks, this has in fact occurred during the past few months. What has been missing so far from this legal bank takeover approach by the FDIC has been the inclusion of larger banks which appear to have problems that are much more serious than the smaller banks which have already been liquidated and transferred to new owners by the FDIC.

The reason that the FDIC has not liquidated larger problematic banks has not been made public. It is certainly possible that the FDIC and key public officials feel that the public failure of a major bank would create a crisis of confidence for all banks regardless of their financial health. An equally strong likelihood is that the FDIC simply does not currently have sufficient assets to cover the failure of a big bank. This viewpoint is supported by the recent announcement that the FDIC is in the process of raising fees paid by banks in order to replenish the FDIC insurance funds.

To realistically protect the future financial health of their own business, small business owners need their own evaluation standards to determine what constitutes either a “good bank” or “bad bank”. Business owners should include an assessment that focuses on results as to which banks can provide the needed help for their specific business circumstances involving working capital financing and commercial loan needs. The banks themselves are not likely to be helpful in providing the needed data to produce a candid evaluation of their financial status, even though such information would go a long way toward establishing a good bank-bad bank distinction.

As noted above, it might be possible that there are several bankrupt banks still functioning normally because they have not rushed to advise the public that they are in serious trouble. While most banks have been publicizing during the past few months that they are making SBA loans and small business loans in a normal fashion, in most cases these banks have actually reduced commercial lending dramatically. Some specialized business lending such as commercial construction financing has been frozen altogether in many areas.

In addition to the critical importance of identifying “good banks”, we have published a related report which describes the delicate issue confronting many business owners who might need to fire their banker. There are “good bankers” and “bad bankers” just as we have noted that there are “good banks” and “bad banks”.

Business finance consulting has emerged as an important tool to help small business owners work their way through a complicated commercial banking maze. One of the common questions asked in the Bernie Madoff fiasco concerns the repeated failure of investment advisors to analyze internal operations prior to placing investor funds with the Ponzi scheme constructed by Madoff over a period of many years.

Our candid final point is that the use of a commercial finance consultant should be at least considered by commercial borrowers in their search for new working capital loans and commercial mortgage financing. Businesses now need to act more aggressively than before in order to protect their own financial interests.