Product pillars
End-to-end guides on each loan product.
37 guides
CMBS loans: the guide for property owners
End-to-end practitioner guide to CMBS loans: structure, sizing, pricing, defeasance, special servicing, and when CMBS is the right answer.
Agency multifamily: the guide for property owners (Fannie, Freddie, HUD)
End-to-end practitioner guide to Fannie DUS, Freddie Optigo, and HUD multifamily debt: programs, sizing, execution, and which to use when.
Bridge loans: the guide for property owners
End-to-end practitioner guide to commercial real estate bridge loans: structure, pricing, lender options, exit planning, and the math.
Construction loans: the guide for property owners
End-to-end guide to commercial real estate construction debt: bank vs. debt fund, HVCRE, draws, completion, take-out structure.
Permanent financing: the guide for property owners
End-to-end guide to permanent CRE financing: agency, life co, CMBS, bank perm. Which to use when, sizing math, and the 2026 pricing benchmarks.
Mezzanine debt: a guide for property owners
Assess additional debt alongside the senior loan, property cash flow and repayment plan.
How to finance a commercial real estate acquisition
End-to-end financing guide for financing a CRE acquisition: capital-source selection, sizing, term-sheet sequencing, third-party reports.
How to prepare for a commercial real estate refinance
End-to-end financing guide for refinancing a CRE loan: timing, capital-source selection, sizing under current rates, prepayment math, and decision points.
How to compare commercial real estate loan pricing
Compare lender proposals on proceeds, interest, fees and the terms that affect your ownership plan.
How loan proceeds differ by lender and property type
Practitioner leverage matrix across the CRE lender options: typical maximum LTV, debt-yield floor, DSCR minimum, and recourse posture by lender type and asset.
CRE sponsor experience and KP requirements: the working guide
Practitioner guide to sponsor and key principal requirements: experience, liquidity, net worth, SREO, FICO overlays, foreign-national structure, partner-buyout.
What to negotiate in a commercial loan term sheet
Sponsor-POV walkthrough of every term-sheet line that moves money, recourse carve-outs, MAC clauses, exit fees, prepay menus, cash traps, and how to negotiate.
How to compare commercial real estate lenders
How a debt placement firm selects, invites, and compares lenders side-by-side on a CRE deal.
What to include in a commercial real estate loan package
How a placement firm packages a CRE deal for lenders: financing memo, T-12 and rent roll prep, SREO, third-party reports, reserves, title and survey, closing.
Can the lender close? Questions to ask before signing
How to evaluate lender execution risk before signing a CRE term sheet: retrade defense, good-faith deposits, rate-lock structure, and soft-commitment traps.
When does refinancing a commercial property make sense?
When to refinance a CRE loan, how to model the prepay break-even across step-down/yield-maintenance/defeasance, supplemental vs. full refi math, partner-buyout.
Construction loan draws, guarantees and repayment
Sponsor-POV guide to construction-loan mechanics, draw schedule design, lien waivers, retainage, change orders, completion guaranty burn-off, HVCRE exemption.
Rate caps, swaps and other ways to manage interest costs
Sponsor-POV guide for CRE rate engineering, running a cap RFP, picking the right strike, swap breakage math, buy-down ROI, ISDA basics, and forward-starting.
Agency multifamily loans: pricing, supplemental debt and rate locks
Sponsor-POV deep dive on agency multifamily mechanics, DUS MBS pricing translation, tier 2/3/4 thresholds, supplemental sizing, MAH/TAH affordability, Green.
How interest rates and credit markets affect your loan
Sponsor-POV pillar on the macro signals that move CRE loan pricing. Treasury auctions, Fed dot-plot, SOFR forwards, MBS spreads, swap spreads, CMBS issuance.
Financing decisions to discuss with your tax adviser
Sponsor-POV pillar on coordinating CRE debt placement with tax-driven structuring, §1031 exchanges, opportunity zones, cost segregation, bonus depreciation.
How ownership structure affects real estate financing
What sponsors need to consider when the ownership agreement, capital contributions and loan terms interact.
Foreign capital, FIRPTA, and blocker structuring for CRE
Sponsor-POV pillar on accepting foreign equity and debt into U.S. CRE, FIRPTA mechanics, REIT-blocker structures, CFIUS jurisdiction, treaty planning, EB-5.
Tax credit bridge financing for CRE, LIHTC, HTC, NMTC, and IRA
Sponsor-POV pillar on bridge debt for tax-credit equity gaps, LIHTC, Historic Tax Credit, NMTC, and IRA energy credit transferability.
Fund financing for real estate sponsors
Sponsor-POV pillar on fund-level credit facilities for CRE, subscription lines, NAV facilities, GP commitment financing, ManCo loans, and continuation-vehicle.
Financing real estate your business owns and occupies
Sponsor-POV mechanics across owner-user CRE financing (SBA 504, SBA 7(a), conventional bank), sale-leaseback structures, credit-tenant lease financing.
Senior housing loans: property, operator and lender requirements
Sponsor-POV financing across senior housing, independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, and CCRC. HUD 232 LEAN program, agency.
Hotel financing: cash flow, brand requirements and renovations
Sponsor-POV hotel financing across select-service, full-service, extended-stay, and resort. RevPAR-driven debt yield sizing, flag affiliation, PIP mechanics.
A guide to financing build-to-rent and rental portfolios
Sponsor-POV financing for BTR and SFR, agency BTR eligibility (Fannie/Freddie), construction-perm take-out, horizontal multifamily distinction, scattered-site.
Bridge financing for property renovations and lease-up
How value-add bridge debt works, interest reserves, rate-cap mechanics, good-news draws, extension fees, and the take-out path that determines whether.
Adaptive reuse and conversion financing: office-to-residential and beyond
How office-to-residential, hotel-to-residential, and other adaptive-reuse conversions get financed, feasibility, incentive stack, NYC 467-m, AB 2011.
Creative CRE deal structures: seller financing, wraps, master leases, and assumable debt
When standard senior CRE debt won't cover the gap, seller carry-back, wraparound mortgage, master lease with purchase option, contract for deed, and assumable.
Specialty industrial and infrastructure financing: data centers, BESS, EV battery, IOS, manufacturing
How data center, BESS, EV battery manufacturing, IOS, and infrastructure projects get financed, power readiness, DOE LPO, IRA credits, CHIPS, project.
How property insurance affects commercial real estate financing
How property insurance availability, named-storm deductibles, flood-zone determination, wildfire risk.
Ground lease and leasehold mortgage financing
How long-dated ground leases and leasehold mortgages finance, leasehold vs. fee mortgage mechanics, recognition / non-disturbance, FMV reset risk.
How do sponsors finance and build data centers?
End-to-end sponsor guide for data center financing in 2026, capital stack, power and interconnect mechanics, lease structures, construction draws, CTL perm.
Decision frameworks
How sponsors actually choose between two paths.
4 guides
Refinance, sell or hold? Compare your property options
When to refi, when to sell, and when to extend-and-pretend in the 2026 maturity wall. Sponsor framework with worked numbers.
Fixed or floating rate: which fits your financing plan?
When to lock fixed and when to float: hold horizon, exit strategy, rate cap economics, and the actual math.
Interest-only or amortizing debt: compare the tradeoffs
When to take interest-only and when to take amortizing. Sponsor framework with worked numbers and lender-by-lender IO availability.
Recourse or non-recourse: compare the guarantees
When to accept partial or full recourse and when to insist on non-recourse. Sponsor framework with pricing trade-offs and personal balance sheet protection.
Construction-to-perm
Locking the take-out, recourse burn-off, forwards.
2 guides
Multifamily construction-to-permanent financing guide
How to structure the take-out from multifamily construction to permanent financing, agency forward, HUD 221(d)(4), or open-market take-out at stabilization.
Construction loan recourse burn-off: how to negotiate the structure
How to structure recourse burn-off on bank construction loans, milestones, triggers, and what's negotiable.
Underwriting blockers
Insurance, taxes, environmental, regulation.
4 guides
How HVCRE rules can affect construction financing
What HVCRE means for your bank construction loan: the 15% equity test, the contributed-value rules, and how to qualify for the exemption.
Phase I environmental site assessments on CRE loans
What a Phase I environmental site assessment covers, when Phase II is triggered, and how to handle environmental issues that surface during loan diligence.
When property insurance becomes a financing obstacle
Property insurance premium increases since 2017 are now affecting loan sizing, debt-yield floors, and lender approvals.
Property tax reassessment on acquisitions: the underwriting trap
How property tax reassessment on acquisition can derail loan sizing, and how to underwrite to a forward tax basis.
Side-by-side comparisons
Head-to-head program and structure choices.
3 guides
Fannie DUS vs. Freddie Optigo: head-to-head comparison
Side-by-side comparison of the two dominant agency multifamily programs: pricing, sizing, IO, prepayment, small-loan execution, and when each one wins.
CMBS vs. life co perm: head-to-head comparison
When CMBS beats life co and when life co beats CMBS on stabilized non-multifamily perm. Pricing, leverage, prepayment, and execution side-by-side.
Bank bridge vs. debt fund bridge: head-to-head
When a bank bridge wins and when a debt fund wins. Leverage, pricing, recourse, speed, and decision-maker access compared.
Keep exploring
Answers to commercial real estate financing questions
Plain-English answers to commercial real estate financing questions: bridge, agency, CMBS, construction, mezzanine, pricing, fees, underwriting and workouts.
CRE debt glossary
340 commercial real estate finance terms defined in plain English: DSCR, debt yield, LTV, defeasance, yield maintenance, mezzanine, SOFR and more.
Your commercial mortgage is coming due. What are your options?
Start with the property, the payoff and the financing available for your next step.
Commercial real estate lenders and capital sources
Every CRE capital source explained: agency, life co, CMBS, regional bank, debt fund, mezzanine, SBA. Who lends what, at what terms, with the typical use cases.
How we arrange your commercial real estate financing
From compiling materials to comparing lenders and coordinating closing, here is what we do and what we need from you.
Tell us about the property and the financing you need
Send a commercial real estate financing request. Marshall Masterson replies within a timeframe agreed after reviewing the request with proceeds, structure and lender fit. Confidential.