Best Commercial Finance

Acquiring finance for a property development project can be a time consuming and complicated affair. Tracking down the right lending product which fits your requirements most closely can be difficult, doubly so if you have never applied for property development finance in the past. Below are a few tips designed to give you a head start with this complicated process.

• Prepare documentation in advance, no matter which lender you approach, you are going to be asked to produce a quantity of supporting documentation to accompany your application for property development finance. You will certainly be asked to supply a set of fully audited company accounts, unless you are a first time constructor. You will also be required to submit a business development plan which shows how the development project will prove to make a return on investment, and how you plan to cover any monthly repayments until the project is complete.

• Be prepared to prove the viability of your development project, it may be prudent to prepare reports which demonstrate the financial success of similar projects in the area you have chosen to begin your project, every lender is going to want to make sure that the risk to them is minimal before they approve your application for property development finance.

• Double check your costing and financial forecasts, make sure you detail every potential costs, both for materiel costs and professional fees, also factor in the cost of labour. By showing that you have planned to a significant level of detail you will assure the lenders that you have performed adequate due diligence and are fully capable of managing the construction project.

• Approach multiple lenders, you may well find that some lenders will be keener to supply you with property development finance than others, the commercial lending market is driven by a far different set of lending criteria than the personal finance market, these criteria can differ significantly between lenders.

• Do your homework, try to find out which lenders have offered property development finance for projects similar to your own recently, some lenders specialise in certain facets of the market, it makes sense to approach a lender with a pre-disposition for your type of construction project than one who is historically less likely to give you a positive outcome.

Although these few guidelines will help anybody who is thinking of applying for property development finance direct with lenders, it is highly advised that you seek the advice of a professional commercial finance broker. By employing your own broker you will have a new member of the team who is capable of assisting you to prepare the documentation that is required to accompany your application for property development finance, and then approach multiple lenders on your behalf.

A good broker will act as your spokesman with the lenders and handle the entire application process, keeping you abreast of the situation at all times and dealing with any problems which crop up.