How many basis points to add to 10 yr treasury?

[Todd Moriarty]

My goal is to quickly valuate apartment buildings with current accurate data. (i.e. interest rates, insurance rates, future taxes, future expenses, etc.)

I'm trying to determine what the commercial loan interest rate would be for a loan for an apartment building.  Instead of calling my bank every time I want to check the rate (sometimes they don't call me back), I've been told to follow the 10 yr treasury note and add the current "basis points" to it.

It's easy to find the 10 yr treasury note rate but how does one go about determining the basis points amount to add to this? Is there a crystal ball, the magic 8-ball, a secret website?

Back in April a guy on BP told me 200 basis points plus the 10 yr note = 4.25%.  But my bank guy told me 5-5.25%. Where's this discrepancy coming from?  A few days ago I was told it's 225 basis points.

[Account Closed]

Todd, you need to compare apples to apples, every lender will have different spreads. What you will hear most often applies to institutional debt  and Agency lending. Banks will almost always be above those and then you credit and property size will impact even more.  Comparing spreads is best for deals over $2M and non recourse.