Lender Interview Guide

[Jacob Simpson]

Does anyone have an Interview Guide that they use to qualify potential lenders? I've put together the questions below, but I'm open to any and all input. This is primarily focused on residential lending, but I will probably make one for commercial as well! Thanks for your help!

1. Experience
   1. How long have you been in the lending business?
   2. What experience do you have working with local residential real estate investors?
   3. Do you own any real estate investments of your own?

1. Property Criteria
   1. Do you only finance certain types of properties? Which ones?
   2. Do you only lend in certain geographic locations? Which ones?
   3. What other property criteria do you consider when making funding decisions?

1. Borrower Criteria
   1. Do you finance borrowers that have financing agreements with other lenders?
   2. Do you require borrowers to maintain reserve amounts? How much, and how are they calculated?
   3. What other borrower criteria do you consider when making funding decisions?

1. Loan Terms & Fees
   1. What loan lengths do you offer (8,15,20,30 year)?
   2. What is the maximum LTV you will finance?
   3. What are your interest rates on your loan packages? How do you determine what interest rate to offer a potential borrower?
   4. Do you charge points? How much and when? Do you offer higher interest rate packages with fewer points?
   5. What other fees do you charge?

1. Investor Oriented
   1. Do you provide funds for rehab costs?
      1. What do those costs cover?
      2. What is the high level process?
      3. What are the documentation requirements?
      4. How will you be involved in the construction/rehab phase of the investment?
   2. Do you offer loans that account for the value of a property after it has been renovated?
      1. How do you calculate After Repair Value of a property?
   3. How many loans can I, or my LLC, have at one time?
   4. Do you offer both recourse and non-recourse financing?
   5. What additional advantages do you provide for investors that live and invest locally?

1. Funding Timelines
   1. Can we get pre-approved for funding on future projects?
   2. How quickly can you process documentation and guarantee access to funds once a contract is in place?