A solid history of tax returns is only the first step of the process. Commercial mortgage officers today are very unlikely to look favorably on business ideas that are new or could be considered even moderately risky. Expect them to question every aspect of the viability of your business plan. If you are good at talking about your goals and can make other people believe that you can meet them, you might have a good chance of having a mortgage officer look at your business idea positively. In these difficult days, you want to develop a solid relationship with your loan officer. If you can obtain the services of an accomplished financial advisor with an exceptional degree of interpersonal skills, the sky is definitely the limit.
Beware that some lenders will want to put an additional lien on your private home above and beyond that placed on your commercial loan. You won’t be surprised to learn that this can be a challenging situation. It’s understandable that the one loaning you money will want to secure it in any way feasible. Allowing a lien to be placed on your private property in order to further your business could endanger not only your fiscal well-being, but that of your family as well. This course of action should be undertaken with extreme caution.
It is a good idea to scout around and find commercial mortgage lenders who are willing to take a chance on your business. A commercial mortgage broker, who be necessity maintains relationships with multiple lenders, might be able to help you. He would be able to give you information about the variables and limits used by different lenders. Sure, commercial lending institutions are facing troubles of their own these days, but you must remember that they only make money if your loan application goes through, so you should assume that they’ll be on your side as much as possible.