Sunday, April 26, 2009

Managing your expectations on funding your green project


I've written this blog to prepare you for your future funder....the alliances we have are all private money sources....with that being said...here's the NO BS truth about your future funder:

Understanding the difference between PRIVATE funding and INSTITUTIONAL funding....

Banking as we once knew it is gone for a very long time. In fact, very few institutional banks funded large commercial projects in 2008. I have substantial visibility into the market and the only institutional activity I saw was banks calling their notes due immediately. Banks were forced to do this because of their own liquidity issues and many developers were left with no funds and the project(s) came to a screeching halt.

"Joe Developer" then knocked on every bank's door only to find the same answer: "sorry, we are not lending right now."

Since the death of institutional banking, the developers have gone to the private equity world to get their projects funded. My company has always worked exclusively in the private equity side of funding and have had to introduce many of these seasoned developers to the private funding world. Fortunately, this world is actually more simple and efficient than the traditional, institutional banking model. There are, however, some differences that anyone seeking private financing for the first time needs to be made aware of.

1. Your private funder usually has his own idiosyncrasies. For example, a funder may only be interested in hospitality projects in Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama. That's just his funding footprint. He knows the area and is comfortable lending there.

2. There are no referrals in the private money world. Period. Your local bank advertises their closings. Private money never discloses their transactions or their clients. Your private funder will have you sign an NCND, which means you cannot even reveal who funded your project. This protects the funder. He does not want to be vetted, interviewed or interrogated. He usually has a "gate keeper" or "master broker" that will qualify you. Once you fit his funding footprint, he will want to meet you face to face. At this point, the funder will give you every comfort level you will need to assure you of his abilities to fund your project.

3. Private money moves fast. If you, as a developer, have all of your business in order, you can fund in as little as a week.

4. Private money has no rules. Every funder has their own terms and will structure a loan in the most "make sense" way for your project. It's best to hear what is offered than tell him what you will accept. As the old addage goes, "the tail will not wag the dog".

Walker Commercial Funding works exclusively with private money sources. Feel free to contact us for more information. 281...

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

New Guidlelines for Green Projects

Will be available May 26th! We are still accepting applications if you have a full package. Just call us at 281-852-9422 to schedule an appointment to review your project.

Bio-Tech is HOT!

If you have any bio-tech projects or clean-tech projects in need of funding/venture capital, please visit our website and find a one of our professionals nearest you.
Thanks,
Brian

Referral Letter - We Love Happy Clients!


Walker Commercial Funding's President and CEO Brian Walker recently received a referral letter that we wanted to share with the public. Unfortunately, many clients including this one, treat our finance as a "trade secret" and will express their appreciation, but not reveal their name or project name. Walker Commercial Funding and Brian Walker always honors our NCND's so for that reason, this letter has been sanitized. We have added some links to the text for your own research on our commercial funding model and protocol.

March 22, 2009
Mr. Brian Walker
Walker Commercial Funding

Dear Mr. Walker,
I wanted to personally thank you and your team at Walker Commercial Funding and provide you with a letter you can share with other clients (please do not share my name) or feel free to put this on your website:

I found Brian Walker and Walker Commercial Funding by find Walker Commercial Funding's Spanish version of their website on yahoo. I wanted to do business with someone local because I had been burned by three brokers in the US in the past 12 months. I saw the "no upfront fees" page on Walker Commercial Funding's website and decided to call the owner himself. I clicked on Brian Walker's skype me button and I was talking to him immediately.

Brian Walker told me it was Walker Commercial Funding's policy that they never charge upfront fees and only accept projects that they already have a funding source and they know they can fund. I told Brian Walker my entire story of how 3 other brokers charged me upfront fees for commercial fundings that never happened. I had spent a total of $40,000 and my project still was dead. My subcontractors had moved on and my buyers wanted their deposits back.

I was concerned about my project because one Walker Commercial Funding's website, it said projects $10M and up. I told Brian Walker I only needed 8M. Brian Walker said he would accept my file (for free) and Walker Commercial Funding would underwrite the file (for free) and present it to their funder if the file made sense. It sounded too good to be true. I sent them my entire package and it took them 4 days to restructure my file before they presented it to the funder, their underwriter (Cindee) asked me questions none of the other funders asked. This game me a lot of confidence in Waker Commercial Funding.

One week later, Brian Walker skyped me and told me he had two things for me: a) Walker Commercial Funding Service agreement and b) a letter of intent to fund from his funder.

This was so professional! The other three brokers had me sign a service agreement, took an upfront fee and their funders never even performed. I signed the Walker Commercial Funding service agreement, faxed it to Brian Walker and then he sent me the LOI.

I signed the LOI and within 4 days the funder flew to my site, did a site inspection and closed the deal exactly one week later.

Yes, my commercial funding thanks go to Walker Commercial Funding, Brian Walker, Cindee and his funder performed! But most importantly, I'm back to work, my subcontractors came back and my depositors gave me their deposits back. Many, many thanks to Brian Walker and Walker Commercial Funding. As they say in Mexico,
Muchos Gracias!
(Name Withheld)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Finally! A Blog For Funding Green Projects!

Walker Commercial Funding has announced and division of its company dedicated exclusively to funding alternative energy and green projects and products.
The new website is ugly as a bowling show...but here is... www.walkercommercialfunding.org