Quantum Assets, LLC

[Tim W.]

Hello,

Has anyone ever heard of a private money lender called, "Quantum Assets, LLC? They want an underwriting fee up front and I was wondering if that was unusual? Thanks.

[Don Konipol]

First off, you need to determine if they are a direct lender or a broker. If a direct lender, what is their track record, i.e. they finance a good percentage of deals or they merely collect upfront fees for a living?

If they are a broker, is your deal so hard to finance that the broker will have to spend an inordinate amount of time finding the "needle in the haystack"? Or is it a plain vanilla deal? Also, if a broker does your deal require "packaging" before it's submitted to lenders?

Although as policy I never charge an upfront fee (because I want to have as large a deal flow as possible), I don't outright think an upfront fee is by itself inappropriate. The problem is that many are in the business of making money on this fee and providing little or nothing in return. So, that being said one must use extreme caution before paying a fee upfront. Or as J Scott said, just never pay an upfront fee!