The Impact Of Debt On Capital Markets

When it comes to lending in today's environment, reputation is very important, according to many of the debt panelists at Bisnow’s Capital Markets event held last week at The Water Garden in Santa Monica.

The panelists spoke to more than 290 people at the event about making loans in the current market and discussed how their businesses have been affected.

Pircher, Nichols & Meeks partner Daniel Guggenheim, the panel moderator, wanted to know what panelists are seeing in the current lending environment, and how they are determining their rates.

Mosaic Real Estate Investors co-managing partner Vicky Schiff said the regulatory environment is really helping her company, which is seeing a lot of deal flow in major markets.

The goal, Hunt Mortgage Group managing director Paul Angle said, is to steer the client in the right direction. Sometimes it's "clearly a Fannie deal, while sometimes it's a Freddie deal." By getting quotes from both of them, it can actually help the borrower, Paul said.

iBorrow president Brian Good said his company closes more quickly and is non-recourse. Brian said eventually they will have to push their rates higher, but they're not operating in a vacuum—there is competition.

Streit Lending president Noah Streit said his company's situation is similar to Brian's despite Streit Lending being "predominantly a balance-sheet lender." The firm definitely takes stock of its competitors. It also tries to tweak rates "slightly based on what it is that we can offer" and attempts to work with borrowers as much as possible.