Q: Why should I use Brownstone?

A: There are five main reasons for submitting your Subprime commercial loan request to us.

  1. TURN DOWN: Banks or other Prime Commercial Lenders have turned you down and you now conclude that you have a Subprime loan.
  2. SUBPRIME: As an experienced mortgage broker, you know from the start your loan request is a Subprime commercial loan.
  3. TIME: You need to close your loan quickly.
  4. DIRECT LENDER: Our staff makes the loan decisions and we fund your loan with our own money.
  5. EXPERIENCE: Brownstone was founded in January of 1980.

Q: What makes a commercial loan request become a Subprime loan?

A: Somewhere in your loan request is a fact or issue that a Prime Commercial Lender does not like. It could be one or all of the following:

  1. PROPERTY: The property is older, has deferred maintenance, tenant and rental income issues, owner-user concerns, remaining economic life, property usage or the non-conforming zoning of the property, etc.
  2. BORROWER: Insufficient income or assets or insufficient net worth, etc.
  3. CREDIT: Bad credit from bankruptcy to tax liens to judgments to low FICO scores, etc.
  4. DOCUMENTATION: Your borrower can’t provide income, asset, down payment, bank statements, etc and you need to go “No Income Doc” or “Stated Income Doc.”

Q: How do I submit a loan to you?

A: Go to the Forms section of our web site and print out and complete the form. Fax, Trans-Box or e-mail the submission form plus the following to us:

  1. 1003.
  2. Credit Report with two bureaus.
  3. Photos of the property or Appraisal Report (if available).
  4. Escrow and Title Report (if available).
  5. A cover letter from you describing the loan request and its particulars.

Q: What is your "Lending Specialty?"

A: We have four niches as a Subprime Commercial Lender:

  1. Church Mortgages (older or non-conforming properties).
  2. Auto-Related Mortgages (auto repair shops, used car lots, tire shops, smog shops, junk yards, urban parking lots, truck parking lots).
  3. Land & Lot Mortgages (urban lots, residential lots, building lots, plant nursery, agricultural lots like vineyards or orchards, developable vacant land).
  4. Second Mortgages on all Commercial Properties.

Q: What loans don’t you make?

A: We don’t do home loans, construction loans or land development loans. However, we have done loans on a mortuary and a pet cemetery.

Q: Will you accept my loan submission even though I’m primarily a residential mortgage broker with little experience in commercial loans?

A: Of course we will. In fact, refer to our "Glossary of terms" on this web site and read through it. The "Glossary of terms" is structured to assist mortgage brokers.. It won’t teach you everything but at least you will become familiar with the terminology of commercial loans. Remember, the fundamentals of lending are the same for residential and commercial lending.

Q: Why are your interest rates higher than a Prime Commercial Lender?

A: Just as Subprime residential rates are higher than prime residential rates, the same is true with commercial lending. Commercial loans are riskier than home loans. That is a fact. And Subprime Commercial lending is the riskiest of all. The default rate is higher for our type of lending. Remember, we are lending on some tough or unique commercial properties. Even though your borrower might be prime, the property typically is not, which still makes the loan Subprime.

Q: Why don’t you offer par or rebate pricing?

A: Our moneys come from private sources, not Wall Street. Consequently, our cost of money is more expensive than say a Bank’s. The reason for our money being more expensive comes back to the risk associated with Subprime Commercial lending.