Presenting to Banks

[Steven McKinlay]

Hello there,

If you know anything about me or have read any of my posts you have probably realized I am at square one and trying to learn.

I am doing some miscellaneous work for some real estate developers/builders/investors who are starting up a project of 61 lots to houses. They are planning to finance one or two houses at a time from different banks and build a few at a time with a "if we sell one, we build one" strategy.

Anyways, I am putting together a little book presentation to present to the bank(s) for financing, and they kind of gave me a template from a previous multi-lot deal, but it is difficult for me because I am not to sure what the banks are looking for, or how to organize the information the correct way. Any ideas, help, or templates that you use?

Thanks again for all of the help.

[Peter Giardini]

A couple of things...

The bank is all about risk management/reduction and you are bringing them one of the riskest category of deal that you could in this market. So... your entire presentation is going to have to focus on how you will mitigate every risk they can think of.... and there will be many.

Banks are interested in primarily three things.

1. The deal itself. Is this a good deal and if it is, is it one they want to participate in. You will have to convince them that this is a good deal... and just because you are getting those lots for 50% of their appraised value in July.... only means that the bottom probably hasn't been reached. To offset this, you will need to provide comps on currently available/sold lots and how fast they are selling and why you think you can match that performance in your market.

In addition, relative to this being a good deal, you will need to include comps for similar homes. The biggie here would be the absorbtion rate for new homes vs. existing homes within your market... and of course the sales price.

2. Next the banks are going to look at you financially. Their biggest concerns today will be... how much skin will you have in the game and what type of reserves are available when everything heads south.

They are going to look very closely at the individuals who will guarantee these loans... so the principles will have to look good on paper... and themselves have reserves.

3. Your overall experience with similar deals and I would add in similar markets. This one could be a tough one unless you have extensive recent experience and have survived to talk about it. The banks primary interest will be on your experience getting these properties sold. So make sure you fully understand your exit strategy and can communicate that to the bank in a clear consise manner.

There is probably more I could add... but this will get you started.