Commercial
Real Estate Loans > Commercial Mortgage Financing and Mezzanine Loans
Commercial Mortgage Financing and
Mezzanine Loans
Mezzanine
loans on commercial properties are becoming increasingly popular. Mezzanine
lenders reported zero losses on mezzanine loans. Mezzanine loan rates
are falling.
A
mezzanine loan is a form of commercial loan used to finance a large
commercial properties - typically tall office towers, large hotels,
shopping centers and industrial parks.
Mezzanine
loans are large loans, typically at least $3 million. They are generally
placed behind large first mortgages of at least $8 million. Few institutional
mezzanine lenders will consider mezzanine loans of less than $3 million,
although a handful of expensive hard money lenders may consider mezzanine
loans as small as $1 million.
For
the sake of simplicity, you can think of a mezzanine loan as a form
of second mortgage (although there are some important differences).
Obviously you can’t have a second mortgage without a first
mortgage. You would never apply for a mezzanine loan in first position.
In
the capital structure, the pecking order of priorities would be the
first mortgage, followed by the mezzanine loan, followed by owner’s
equity in the property.
Mezzanine
loans are different from mortgages in that the debt is secured not
by a mortgage on the property, but rather by a security agreement
against the owner’s stock in
the company that owns the property. If the borrower doesn’t
make his payments, the mezzanine lender will simply foreclose on
the stock of the corporation or the membership interests of the LLC
that owns the property.
Rates
on mezzanine loans have fallen sharply this year as more mezzanine
lenders have entered the market. Last year a mezzanine loan could
easily have cost the borrower 18% and 2 points. Today most lenders
are quoting 11% to 12% and 2 points.
The
reason interest rates on mezzanine loans are falling is because mezzanine
lenders are not losing any money. At a recent conference of mezzanine
lenders, every lender reported a foreclosure rate of zero!
You
can find scores of mezzanine lenders on C-Loans.com.