I'm looking to establish a relationship with a small community bank/banker in RI who is Real Estate Investor Friendly. Does anyone have any people/banks they would suggest? 

Hi @Joe Sinapi ,

If you have strong financial and credit history, they are all friendly :)  I've had a good experience with Pawtucket Credit Union, but some of the other local banks are likely to have similar products to offer.  It's the "relationship" part that takes time to build credibility with specific people and banks, but it's worth the effort.

Do you attend the local real estate meetings?  There is one this Thursday, and one of the topics is loan products for investors where four local lenders will speak.  I'd say that's a good start to building up that network (assuming you are local).  

@Joe Sinapi I’ve had good luck with Pawtucket Credit Union. And also Bank Newport, Harbor One (formerly Coastway Credit Union), Navigant Credit Union, and Washington Trust. I’ve heard good things about Bay Coast too, but haven’t used them myself yet.

I think the easiest thing honestly is to look at which local banks are closest to where you live, so it won’t be a big deal to go in there a lot and build up that relationship. As Nancy said, they’re all easy to work with if you have a good down payment and good credit :)

For getting the best rate I do recommend getting quotes from more than one bank though. Definitely have them compete against each other to give the best deal. This is also something that works a lot better with local banks (who love to compete and grab a potential rival’s business) than the big national chains (who are more like this is our rate, take it or leave it).

Let us know if you need any help finding a local real estate meetup such as the one this Thursday, too.

Originally posted by @Joe Sinapi :

I'm looking to establish a relationship with a small community bank/banker in RI who is Real Estate Investor Friendly. Does anyone have any people/banks they would suggest? 

 What Anthony and Nancy suggests for banks are fine but I am now more mixed on PCU. They ask for a lot more financials every year vs the other banks.

Thank you all for your thoughts & advice. I haven't attended any local meetings yet and would be interested in the one Nancy mentioned this Thursday. 

Can anyone attend that meeting? If so, I would appreciate if you would let me know when and where it will be held.

Thanks.

It has been a while since I searched out there with an old partner, however, I would check out some in Providence area.

@Joe Sinapi I'll definitely be there, as will, in all likelihood, Nancy and Frank.

My posts have gotten flagged in the past when I've written the exact name of the group, but I will say that, for me at least, it's the top result when I google "rhode island real estate group warwick" and the group has an acronym that you'd expect from a group of real estate investors in Rhode Island.

Got it. Thanks Anthony - much appreciated.

@Anthony Thompson

Is this the group that has Zoom meetings set for tonight?

@Betsy Hall yes it is! :)