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4 Tips for Qualifying for Commercial Real Estate Loans

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By Vista Capital Solutions

Commercial and residential real estate have quite different requirements and qualifications for loan applications. Here are four tips for qualifying for commercial real estate loans.

1. Have Proof of Income Available

The lender will need to know about your income sources and income level before you can be considered for commercial real estate loan approval. This is because the lender needs to be sure your monthly income will be able to cover both your regular expenses and your monthly loan payments. If this is your first time applying for a loan, have your tax forms available, for example, a W-2 form. If you already own or manage properties, bring your portfolio so the lender can review your global cash flow.

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2. Know Your Credit Score

Your credit score won’t hold quite as much weight when you seek a commercial real estate loan as it would for a residential real estate loan, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still an important piece of information. You should make sure your credit score is at least higher than 500. Ideally, however, it should be above 600. If your score falls below 500, you’ll have a much harder time trying to qualify for a loan.

3. Know Your Net Worth

Your net worth will be a much more important factor than your credit score. Net worth is the difference between someone’s liabilities and his or her assets. It will likely be the first thing your potential lender will want to review. Lenders want to make sure your net worth is greater than or equal to the amount of money you’re asking for as a loan, for similar reasons as making sure you have sufficient income.

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4. Inform the Lender of Management or Ownership Experience

Crucially for commercial real estate, you need to inform the lender about your experience in managing or owning properties. Let the lender know whether you have prior experience in these areas or not. If you don’t you may need to explain why you’re seeking to enter the market now. If you do, then you need to be able to show the lender what kinds of properties you’ve owned or managed and how your skills and experience translate to the new property or resources you’re seeking a loan to finance.

If you’re looking to apply for a real estate loan, you should understand both what information is necessary for you to qualify and how the processes differ between commercial and residential real estate industries.

Key Considerations for a Successful Social Media Campaign

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By Vista Capital Solutions

Social media advertising is an amazing way to get your marketing message in front of the people you want to see it. Its highly-targetable nature, combined with relatively low cost-per-impression make it an incredibly powerful tool for brands of all kinds and sizes. Before launching a campaign, however, it’s critical to form a smart strategy. Here are the main factors you need to consider before you put your money down.

Who is Your Audience?

Knowing who you’re targeting may seem like a social media marketing no-brainer, but far too many companies miss the opportunity to really pinpoint who they’re trying to reach. Social media allows you to serve ads to specific demos broken out by age, income, gender, and location. Drill down as deep as you can on these parameters.

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Where can You Find Them Online?

Having a social media marketing presence on every conceivable platform seems like a smart idea. In practice, it’s very difficult and expensive to maintain that level of engagement. Cross-reference your target audience with the one to three platforms they’re most likely to use and start there. You can always add more if you can manage it.

Is the Plan Consistent with Your Overall Marketing Strategy?

Brand consistency is crucial across all media platforms. Don’t trick yourself into thinking that social media marketing is any different. Use the same brand voice, marks, and style you would if you were producing a broadcast or print ad. Customize the dimensions and delivery to the platform; not the attitude and message.

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Are You Being Conversational and Engaging?

Engagement is key to successful social media presence, from organic posts to boosted or paid ads. Customers have grown to expect social media interaction with brands to feel like a one-on-one conversation with a customer service representative. That means you must plan your campaigns and posts in such a way that you can respond in a timely fashion to comments and complaints. You must also present your content in a conversational, engaging way.

Is Your Content High-Quality?

Speaking of content, don’t be misled into thinking that social media content can be lower-quality than your other forms of advertising. Are people used to seeing more amateurish content on social? Yes. Does that content convert sales? Usually not. Put your best foot forward and customize content presentation to each platform.

For best results, use these considerations as a checklist whenever you launch a new social campaign. If applied consistently, they should help you achieve great results!

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Tips For Flipping Commercial Real Estate Properties

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By Vista Capital Solutions

Flipping commercial real estate properties can be expensive– there’s no doubt about that. From taking out loans to paying for repairs, it’s hard to say what a project’s final expenses will look like. Luckily, there are a few things that even first-time flippers can do to reduce their final expenses.

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Pay in Cash Whenever Possible

Did you know that you may be able to cut a deal if you are able to pay for something in cash or for a majority of the final cost in cash? This is true even at professional lending institutions and loan offices. The best way to find out if a business will give discounts for paying, in part, with cash is to simply ask.

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Even if a business or loan officer will not give discounts for paying in cash, you will still benefit from paying as much out of pocket, to begin with, rather than taking out the entire amount for repairs that you need in loans. This is because the less money you take out in loans, the lower the payments will be. As a bonus, interest will not compile as quickly, which will also help to save money.

Use Fix and Flip Financing Programs

There are financing programs designed specifically for property flippers, and cover the costs of acquisitions and renovations. Fix and flip lines of credit, and fix and flip loans, can be used by property investors to tackle individual projects, on up to hundreds of units simultaneously. Fix and flip financing programs are structured around the value of the property involved, and are very accessible to property flippers at all levels.

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Work With a Partner

Lastly, having a business partner can help to relieve the burden of some of your expenses. When you have a business partner, all of the expenses should be divided between the two (or more) of you. This option can work whether you can pay in cash or not and whether you can get a government-funded loan or not. Just make sure that you are working with someone you can trust, as you will also need to share your profits.

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When looking to fix and flip commercial real estate, try to pay in cash, take out loans with low-interest rates, and work with people who you trust. Doing all of these things can go a long way to saving you a lot of money.

The Advantages of Commercial Real Estate Investing

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Investment has long been a great way to grow your wealth but often comes with a high barrier of entry. Not only can it be difficult to learn about the various types of investments and how they can work for you but it can also be difficult to find a way to make that initial foray. Investing in the stock market or a start-up can be simpler to do but both bring a high level of risk. If you’re looking for a safer, long-term investment that can bring you regular income, you might be looking to invest in commercial real estate.
The Basics

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Unlike some forms of investment, this is tangible and is considered to be a hard asset. When you make this kind of investment, you can expect to be rewarded in one of two ways: appreciation, which happens when the value of the building or property increases over time, and income gained by renting the space out. These investments tend to be long-term, as it takes far more effort to buy and sell a large building than to trade or sell stocks. When making investments of this type, you’re not looking to make a quick buck, but are thinking about the long haul.
How It Makes You Money

Commercial real estate is a limited resource, which means that it will always be in demand. Companies need offices or manufacturing space, individuals need apartments and entrepreneurs need restaurant or store space. All of those people will pay for that space, and that’s where the first source of income comes from. A well-located building with modern spaces will fetch top dollar from all of these renters, and that income is regular and can be counted on.

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Appreciation is the other source of financial reward but takes longer to build. With this, you’re looking farther down the road, to the point where you can sell that property. This can be a great return on investment if you look at demographics and market patterns. Buying a property for a low price in an area that will boom in a few years means that, as long as you maintain the building, you can sell at a profit.

Commercial real estate can be a very powerful investment tool, as long as you do your research. It boasts potential for high returns and also offers the advantage of a regular income, which many other investments do not. Because of these reasons, this can be a great way to start investing and making money right away.

Contact Vista Capital Solutions today to start exploring our wide range of financing options for commercial real estate.