All Forum Posts by: Chase Banta

My wife and I are interested in opening a child care center in Portland, Oregon, and I am doing preliminary research on what it will look like to enter into a commercial lease arrangement on a space that's, say, 2500 SQFT or more. So, to get myself oriented, I have a short list of questions.

What do we need to have in place/arranged before sending a broker out into the world to find us a space? I've never been on either side of the commercial rental arrangement, but if I was on the landlord's side I'd probably want to see proof of financing, and a business plan showing how the business revenues would be sufficient to cover all costs, especially rent.

With respect to proof of financing, what will the landlord want to see from us? If I was the landlord I'd want to see something like good credit, as well as some level of capital that I'd deem to be a sufficient margin of safety for someone opening a child care center. Is there anything like "X times monthly rents in savings?"

What sort of terms could we reasonably expect to have negotiated on our behalf with respect to upfront tenant improvements as well as a potential "grace-period" where we might not have to pay rent up front? If I was a landlord, this would depend entirely on the current market demand for my space, but what might be some sort of "standard" arrangement with respect to how much the landlord would pay to transition their space into one that was fit to be used as a child care center (of course, this will differ depending on whether the space is currently retail/office/etc, but just looking for some general insight), and any number of months free rent up front?

What are some general pieces of advice you'd give us as we begin this process?

Thanks in advance!

@Stephanie Medellin

Either I'm dense or I don't have the ability to send a message to you.

My wife and I are currently shopping for our first home and got pre-approved yesterday for $417,000 (amount requested) at what would currently be 3.5%. We have good credit (820ish for me 760ish for her), and I am trying to figure out what the best method to actually "shop" for a mortgage is. Do I just go to more banks and tell them what we're approved for and ask them to beat ... (rate? closing costs?) are there alternatives to banks that I should be considering?

@Stephanie Medellin

Thanks a lot, this is extremely helpful.  Do you mind if I private message you with an additional question related to financing?

@Stephanie Medellin

It sounds like you know exactly what I'm talking about, and what you're saying makes sense.

So, how do you know which tier you'll be underwritten for?

For example, in the 90%-95% LTV portion of the chart I am looking at, there are 3 tiers: 30%, 25%, and 16% with the rates at .3%, .28%, and .22% respectively.

Apparently the picture link didn't work.

The picture comes from this site

http://www.radian.biz/page?name=RatesAndGuidelinesNew#horizontalTab1

and is found under "BPMI Prime Rates".

Moderators: I'm not affiliated with that site, it's just the only example I can easily link to. 

I am curious about what the coverage (and I've also seen an exposure column in P.M.I. charts as well) column denotes on this P.M.I. chart; can someone help me understand what's being referenced there?