San Mateo, CA (Jan. 30, 2017) — Redwood Mortgage, a family-owned private lender incorporated in 1978, announced today its record-pace of commercial and residential investment property lending in 2016 enabled it to top $100 million in total loans for the year.
“We’re very pleased with the quality and the growth of our lending last year, and are seeing continued strong demand for Redwood’s private-money solutions for investment real estate,” said Michael Burwell, President of Redwood Mortgage. “Borrowers like the flexibility and responsiveness we offer, especially when there’s a particular need or challenge that traditional lenders can’t accommodate,”
Redwood Mortgage specializes in commercial real estate investment loans in California, often helping borrowers resolve maturing loans, facilitate timely specialized purchases and use cash-out refinancing to enable repositioning or other purposes. Added Steve Belleville, Director of Sales and Marketing, “Given the pressures and changes on large, traditional institutions, there’s a burgeoning market of mid-to- small investors who have strong properties and balance sheets but who can’t get their financing needs met.”
Redwood closed on a number of deals in 2016, that exemplify their flexibility in meeting borrower needs, such as:
* Restructured debt with cash-out component: Redwood arranged a $1.96 million loan to facilitate a refinance, which helped the borrower pay off a maturing bank loan and restructure corporate debt on a commercial warehouse and retail property in the San Francisco area. A cash-out component of the refinance enabled the borrower to pay down an unsecured bank line of credit that was coming due as well. The Redwood loan was structured on a 2-year term, interest only.
* Higher LTV for strong-balance- sheet borrower: In Los Angeles, Redwood Mortgage closed a $2.2 million commercial refinance loan on a retail property at 65% LTV with no prepayment penalty. The borrower needed a rate and term refinance to pay off a maturing seller carry-back financing note. This auto dealership property in west Los Angeles is located in a popular, high-traffic commercial corridor.
* Purchase loan for time-constrained deal. A Silicon Valley Peninsula rental property owner utilized Redwood’s $633,750 purchase loan to acquire a condominium asset in a time-constrained transaction after the buyer’s bank declined to do the loan. Redwood’s loan, at 65% LTV, was based on the borrower’s financial and tax-return information. Once the property is stabilized, the owner plans a refinance to pay off the Redwood Mortgage note.
* Cross-collateralized, multi-property deal, made simple: Another large loan involved a complex situation that Redwood Mortgage helped simplify for the borrower. Redwood’s $9.5 million loan on two properties involved a 3-story multi-tenant office building and a 100,000 square-foot industrial property. By cross-collateralizing the properties, Redwood Mortgage was able to meet the borrower’s objectives in addressing a maturing loan while aligning the go-forward property strategy with restructured debt. For example, one of the properties is being repositioned for sale, and the cross-collateralized structure provided appropriate working capital to maximize the potential of the contemplated sale.
About Redwood Mortgage Incorporate in 1978, Redwood Mortgage is a second-generation family-held firm with over 39 years of experience in arranging and funding mortgage loans in California. Based in San Mateo, CA, Redwood Mortgage has arranged nearly $2 billion in loans and currently manages assets of over $275 million. Redwood Mortgage provides tailor-made funding solutions secured by residential investment, multifamily and commercial properties. The firm differentiates itself from traditional lenders with its single level of decision-making, no prepayment penalty on loans, its long-held expertise in commercial loan transactions and its in-house document production and funding. For more information, visit www.redwoodmortgage.com