Four to six weeks from package complete to signed term sheet . Week 1: package complete, send to selected lenders. Weeks 1 to 2: lender Q&A. Week 2 or 3: indicative LOIs returned. Week 3: comparison and selection of top three. Week 4: best-and-final round. Week 4 or 5: award and term-sheet signing.
What can compress and what can stretch the timeline
Faster paths (3 to 4 weeks total): clean stabilized refi with current financials in hand, repeat-borrower with multiple lenders, single-asset deal with no portfolio complexity, motivated borrower and motivated lenders. Bridge bake-offs typically run faster than perm because debt funds turn LOIs in 5 to 10 days.
Slower paths (5 to 8 weeks): non-stabilized property with significant Q&A, multi-property portfolio with allocation work, complex structure (capital stack, ground lease, regulatory complexity), summer or year-end timing when credit committees meet less frequently.
Pre-bake-off package work: typically two weeks of package preparation (financing memo, T-12 and rent roll normalization, SREO, sponsor bio, sources and uses) before the bake-off can launch. Sponsors with current institutional-quality reporting can compress this; sponsors who have not packaged a deal recently typically need the full two weeks.
Post-award to closing: 30 to 45 days bridge, 45 to 75 days bank perm, 60 to 90 days CMBS, 60 to 120 days agency, 6 to 9 months HUD.
Sources
- Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations · Mortgage Bankers Association · 2026-Q1
- Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices (SLOOS) · Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System · 2026-Q1