It is important to understand that the repayment terms of commercial real estate loans Texas are not like a personal mortgage for your home. Not only is the dollar amount larger but the terms are often much shorter.

Many business owners have some very unrealistic expectations when they start to look at commercial real estate loans Texas. They are expecting the same type of terms that they would get on a residential mortgage and are alarmed when they learn that is not the case. Where a residential real estate loan is typically 30 years, commercial real estate loans are broken into two main categories regarding their length of repayment term. The shorter of the two types is an intermediate term loan and it is three years or less and the longer term loans range from five years to twenty years. So the shorter term can make it much more difficult to repay the large loan amount needed for a commercial property purchase.

Another difference is that only some commercial real estate loans Texas are amortized. An amortized loan is one in which the loan gets repaid in fixed installments until you have paid back the entire amount. It is the same type of payment that most consumers have on their home mortgage. You make payments each month, at a fixed amount, which covers both principle and interest. But many commercial real estate loans Texas are not amortized so at the end of the term you are facing a balloon payment. The balloon payment is usually quite large but the reason many business owners elect to use this type of loan is that the monthly payments are lower. During the course of the loan, the borrower is paying only the interest on the loan amount so the balloon payment ends up being almost the entire amount of the principle. When this occurs, most businesses are forced to refinance the balloon amount to a new loan.

Beware of Prepayment Terms

As a homeowner, you are looking forward to any opportunity to pay a little extra on your mortgage to save some money on interest. But that is not normally the case when you are talking about a commercial real estate loan. There are several clauses that are added to the contract to protect the lender from the loss associated with an early payoff. A prepayment penalty is a fee or penalty that is calculated by multiplying the current outstanding balance by a specified prepayment penalty. An interest guarantee is a specific amount of interest that the lender is entitled to even if the loan is paid off early. And a lockout states a specific time period in which the borrower cannot pay off the loan. It could be a stated as a 5 year lock out and the borrower would need to wait longer than 5 years to pay off the loan.

Understand What You are Agreeing to Prior to Signing on the Dotted Line

There are many differences between a commercial real estate loan and a residential real estate loan. The biggest difference is the dollar amount but the differences in the terms are what you need to be aware of. Knowing the different repayment terms and clauses will help you plan how and when you will repay your loan.

Dennis Dahlberg
Broker/RI/CEO/MLO
Level 4 Funding LLC  Private Hard Money Lender
Arizona Tel:  (623) 582-4444
Texas Tel:      (512) 516-1177
Dennis@level4funding.com NMLS 1057378 | AZMB 0923961 | MLO 1057378
22601 N 19th Ave Suite 112 | Phoenix | AZ | 85027
111 Congress Ave |Austin | Texas | 78701

About the Author:  Dennis has been working in the real estate industry in some capacity for the last 40 years. He purchased his first property when he was just 18 years old. He quickly learned about the amazing investment opportunities provided by trust deed investing and hard money loans. His desire to help others make money in real estate investing led him to specialize in alternative funding for real estate investors who may have trouble getting a traditional bank loan. Dennis is passionate about alternative funding sources and sharing his knowledge with others to help make their dreams come true. Dennis has been married to his wonderful wife for 42 years. They have 2 beautiful daughters 5 amazing grandchildren. Dennis has been an Arizona resident for the past 40 years.

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