Kevin Green arranges business-purpose private money and bridge financing on commercial and investment property: multifamily, mixed-use, industrial, retail, office, special use, land and ground-up construction. Loans run from $250,000 in California and $1,000,000 and above outside it, up to $50,000,000+. The decision rests on the property, the equity position and the exit rather than on tax returns or W-2 income. Approvals typically within 12 to 24 hours, funding typically 5 to 21 days. California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Texas, Florida and New York, with other states case by case. CA DRE Broker #01241542 · NMLS #1130752
THE LONGER ANSWER
What is a commercial hard money loan?
A commercial hard money loan is financing secured by commercial or investment property, where the decision is made on the property rather than on the borrower's income documentation. The same product goes by three other names. Private money loan. Bridge loan. Asset-based loan. They describe the same thing, and which word a lender uses tells you more about the lender than about the loan.
What separates it from a bank loan is not the rate. It is what gets examined. A bank underwrites the borrower and treats the property as security. A private lender underwrites the property and treats the borrower's structure as a detail to be worked out. That is why a borrower with substantial assets and a complicated tax return gets declined at a bank and funded privately in the same month, on the same building.
The tradeoff is real and worth being plain about. Private money is priced above bank debt, and it is written for a defined period rather than as permanent financing. It is a bridge from where the asset is now to where it needs to be: leased, stabilized, sold, or refinanced into conventional debt once the documentation supports it.
PROPERTY TYPES
What Kevin lends on
Commercial and investment property across the following, on purchase, refinance and cash-out:
Multifamily and apartment buildings
Mixed-use buildings
Industrial and warehouse
Retail and shopping centers
Office, including flex and medical
Special use
Land and ground-up construction
Single-family and 1 to 4 unit residential held for investment
Condominiums and townhomes held for investment
Business purpose only. Fix-and-flip projects are financed as well.
THE DECISION
How the decision actually gets made
Three questions decide a commercial file, and the answers decide everything else.
QUESTION ONE
What is the asset worth?
Not the automated valuation and not the asking price. On an income property that means the rent roll, the leases and what the operating numbers actually support. On a vacant or repositioning asset it means what a motivated buyer would pay within a few months, which is usually a different number from the appraisal.
QUESTION TWO
How much equity sits behind the loan?
This is the question that replaces a credit report. Equity is what absorbs a mistake, and it is why the loan-to-value matters more here than any borrower metric.
QUESTION THREE
What is the exit?
Private money is a bridge, so the exit is not optional. A sale, a refinance into conventional or portfolio debt once the asset performs, a lease-up that changes what a bank will do, or a liquidity event the borrower can evidence. A file without a specific exit does not get funded.
Entity ownership is normal and not an obstacle. An LLC, a partnership, a trust or a foreign national borrower are all ordinary at this level.
FUNDED
Commercial transactions Kevin has funded
A spread of real files, from the smallest size he writes to the largest.
$13,000,000
Sacramento. Ground-up construction of a 62-unit multifamily project · 65% of cost
$850,000
Lodi. Commercial winery expansion and business use of funds · 16% LTV
$1,925,000
San Ramon. Purchase of a multi-unit investment property · 70% LTV
$318,000
North Hollywood. Purchase of commercial flex office space · 65% LTV
$1,800,000
Santa Cruz. Commercial investment property, business use of funds · 65% LTV
$960,000
Oakland. Purchase of a mixed-use commercial building, cross-collateralized · 70% LTV
Every one of these is a business-purpose loan on non-owner-occupied property.
PRICING
What it costs, and why there is no rate sheet
Pricing is quoted per transaction. There is no published rate sheet for this kind of lending, and a lender who gives you one before seeing the file is quoting you a number they may not honor once they have.
What moves the price is specific and worth knowing before you call:
ONE
The asset and how readily it sells.
A leased industrial building in a tight submarket prices differently from a vacant office floor mid-repositioning, because the lender's recovery looks different in each case.
TWO
How much equity sits behind the loan.
This is the single largest factor. A loan at half the property's value and a loan at the top of the range are not the same risk and are not priced the same way.
THREE
The term and the exit.
A six-month bridge to a signed sale and a two-year hold through a lease-up are different commitments of capital.
FOUR
How much work the file needs.
A clean file with current leases, a recent appraisal and clear title moves quickly. A file missing those things costs time, and time is part of the price.
Kevin quotes after he has seen the property, the equity position and the exit. On most files that conversation takes one call and does not require a package.
LENDING AREAS
Where Kevin lends
All of California, with the heaviest concentration in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Sacramento County, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County and the Lake Tahoe basin.
Also Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Texas, Florida and New York. Other states case by case.
Minimum loan size is $250,000 in California and $1,000,000 outside it.
LENDING PARAMETERS
Loan parameters
Loan size | $250,000 to $50,000,000+ in California. $1,000,000 and above outside California |
Purpose | Business purpose only |
Property types | Multifamily, mixed-use, industrial, retail, office, special use, land, ground-up construction, and 1 to 4 unit residential held for investment |
Underwriting basis | The asset, the equity position and the exit, rather than income documentation |
Loan to value | Typically up to 65%. On larger commercial deals and select residential transactions, higher LTV is considered |
Borrower structures | Individual, LLC, partnership, trust, foreign national |
Approvals | Typically 12 to 24 hours |
Funding timeline | Typically 5 to 21 days |
Territory | California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Texas, Florida and New York. Other states case by case |
Pricing | Quoted per transaction based on the asset, the equity position, the term and the exit |
WHO YOU ARE ACTUALLY DEALING WITH
Call me and you reach the person who decides.
Kevin Green is a California real estate broker and has been licensed since 1998, more than 28 years in this business, with more than 500 loans funded.
He funds most transactions from his own capital and places the balance with private investors when a loan falls outside his internal guidelines. In practice that means the person who answers the phone is the person who decides, and the answer on most files comes the same day.
Kevin Green · California DRE Broker #01241542 · NMLS #1130752
QUESTIONS THAT COME UP ON EVERY DEAL
Asked and answered
Do you need tax returns or income documentation?
No. These are business-purpose loans underwritten on the asset, the equity position and the exit. Kevin does not require tax returns or W-2 income documentation on this type of transaction.
How fast can a commercial hard money loan close?
Typically 5 to 21 days from a complete file, with approval usually inside 12 to 24 hours. What moves the timeline most is the appraisal and the condition of the title work, not the underwriting.
What is the smallest commercial loan Kevin will write?
$250,000 in California. Outside California the minimum is $1,000,000.
What loan-to-value can I get on a commercial property?
Typically up to 65% of value. On larger commercial deals and select residential transactions, higher loan-to-value is considered.
What does a commercial hard money loan cost?
Pricing is quoted per transaction and depends on the asset, the equity position, the term and the exit. There is no rate sheet for this type of lending, because no two of these files carry the same risk.
Can the property be held in an LLC or a trust?
Yes. Entity and trust ownership is standard on commercial transactions and is not an obstacle. Individual, LLC, partnership, trust and foreign national borrowers are all workable.
Talk through a commercial file
Property, rough value, how much is owed against it, and what the exit looks like. That is enough for a straight answer, and it goes to Kevin directly.
Placing a client's deal? See the broker page.