As a lender - 1) investors that are just starting out normally float towards high leverage/high rates lenders (lower margins and more risk); experienced investors normally go with lenders that can close fast, reliably, and with low fees.

I personally like to buy real estate that has A) excellent long-term prospects ie. area growth, commercial vibrancy, high housing demand, rising rental rates and B) positive or at least neutral cash flow.

I am considering keeping my current personally owned home/farm and renting it as horse owner property. already completely set for 2-4 horses. my personal interest rate on the property is 2.6% and I don't want to loose it.

At that interest rate, is there a reason you wouldn't just put these expenses on a credit card or do credit card cash advance? 

But with COVID and higher rates I know a lot of banks/credit unions have cut back on some of their products, so I guess PenFed did too.If you are based in FL you can try Space Coast Credit Union.

Unless you want to overbid someone else they would not entertain if you want to buy an asset with a 25% discount lol, they are the pros.

Agree with @Joe Funari - we only work with local/community banks and regional banks - they are quicker to respond, take a personal interest in partnering with your real estate business to see it have success (which makes sense, because they want you to make good on your loans), and offer much better rates than hard money loans - we don't pay any origination fees, they can even fund in less than 30 days, and interest rates have never hit double digits over the past 2 years.  

This is primarily because the franchisor are able to negotiate lower or below market lease rates due to their guarantees and credit rating.

Very limited information is being communicated by sponsors, particularly those that used high leverage variable rate loans to acquire in 2021-2022, so LPs are commonly feeling left in the dark.

I do have two buildings that the water is on a flat rate fee.