In the process of financing an apartment complex it has been necessary to scour my local area banks, credit unions and other sources.

What I found in my neighborhood was many banks that are not lending for real estate purposes. I found a number of credit unions and banks that will do residential deals, but was amazed at the wide variation in cost for investing in investment properties.

I also looked at brokers, both local and national. I found some good contacts and discovered that conventional financing is getting difficult for many. It is out there, but the real estate fundamentals must be right and your credit score makes a big difference.

Commercial financing can be more challenging and seems to be more individually oriented and of course the project numbers must support the deal.

Terms, rates and conditions seem to vary greatly.

The experience has been good because now I have a good idea were to go when financing my next deal. Good connections count and make it easier to fund the next project.

So what was the method that you used to fund the apartment complex?

I having to do FHA. The good thing is I have found resources for other deals as well.

Are you a member of the local REAPS? The reason I ask is I have been visiting there for a couple of months and I am looking for private money or possibly a partner with money/ expertise in the Puget Sound Region to help with some ShortSales and some other possible projects.

I'm thinking about going to REAPS. I've been going to the REIA group in Bellevue instead.

Hey Charles,
In the credit union world (I'm starting to look into now) did you find that they would lend on investment property?
I guess they have the ability to make decisions on the local level on a case by case basis if they do.
Do they follow the exact same federal legislation that banks do or is it different since they are owned by the members?

I found quite a few willing do lend on residential both banks and credit unions.

For commercial loans it quickly thins out. I found local credit union and several banks. For commercial loans fees, rates and terms are all over the board.

Originally posted by Charles Perkins:
I having to do FHA. The good thing is I have found resources for other deals as well.

Charles - If you are interested, I can refer you to a good friend at Wells Fargo that gave me a 15 year FHA at 4%. She is just starting out and is trying to build a client base so she keeps her expenses very low for the time being.

Jason