They do not understand the space well so give really bad loan terms to dip the toe in the water but it has nothing to do with the actual tenant or the property itself.I have seen a bank that does not do much commercial be 45% down, 20 year amortization, 5 year fixed, big pre-payment penalty, rate in the 4's,etc. 

I used a fannie mae homestyle loan and renovated the cottage into my home office space for now.

At 80% occupancy the storage unit building combined with the now rehabbed retail space, the property will be cash-flowing about $25,000 a year($2,100/month at 80% occupancy).Once we are at 80-90% occupancy we will refinance doing 75% LTV and recoup 100% of my initial investment ($105,000) as well as my partners rehab costs (20k).

Interest payments on the commitment or as you draw.. this is HUGE.. we all charged on the commitment for years , but as the HML space got more competitive the bigger companies will only charge on funds that are drawn out. 

By remodeling every inch of it including new insulation in the crawl space and a vapor barrier.

in the old days HML charged interest on the commitment.. as competition came to the space most HML these days only charge on the drawn funds. 

I think college students will start to become more picky and will want more space, nicer amenities and nicer housing (especially if mom and dad are paying for it).If you are an operator that provides a superior service and product, I think you will be fine.

Of course not all contractors are going to sweep things under the rug.  1.) 

The space is very crowded now, but overall I think they are a small footprint with corresponding risk.

I've been following commercial real estate for the past few years and I've developed a personal preference for the STNL space.