Acquisition Fee: biggest driver I see (and apparently all institutions too) is level of acquisition fee.  2% or less is ideal. 

Institutional or registered lenders are often exempt from usury laws, individual, unregistered, private lenders are usually not exempt, check your state usury laws.Paying any fee to obtain a loan is considered points, points are pre-paid interest, points are paid to institutional or registered lenders, not individuals. 

what is institutional financing, like a bank?

Miran's monetary thesis - the dollar is going to intentionally decline and mortgage rates will go lower...much...much...lower.

Great points, Jeff — and you’re right to highlight that the expense ratios are unusually efficient for a coastal STR.A couple of clarifications on the numbers:The current owner self-manages, which keeps cleaning and maintenance costs lower than a third-party STR manager would typically charge.Some of the repairs and CapEx were front-loaded in prior years (new flooring, appliances, and paint), so last year’s P&L reflects more of a stabilized-operations scenario.The utilities figure is accurate — it’s higher due to being master-metered for the property — but the other OPEX categories are slightly understated if you were to underwrite this as a fully managed, third-party operation.If I modeled it using a professional management assumption plus normalized reserves, the operating ratio trends closer to 48–50%, which aligns with what you mentioned for coastal STR multifamily.I appreciate you calling that out — it’s a great reminder of how much variance there can be between owner-operated and institutional-style expense reporting, especially in hybrid STR assets like this.Here's the owner's profit and loss statement for the exacts of the 2024 year.

I recently began my journey as a Mortgage Loan Officer with loanDepot, where I help clients find the right financing solutions for home purchases, refinances, and investment properties.Before transitioning into mortgage lending, I spent years in institutional finance and trading, where I developed a strong foundation in markets, risk management, and client service.

I do not see any major shifts and more private money getting into the Mix as institutional capital is so much larger and has so much more capital than private investors

We got hit with a lot of fraud 1-2 years back and instituted ID check.

Quick rule of thumb: hard money is institutional, faster but rigid, with points, draws, appraisals, and strict timelines; private money is relationship-based, more flexible on docs, payments, and extensions, often quicker when the deal and trust are strong .

Typically we do this with scanned versions and not send the original unless its an institutional client that also ahs a custodian and get bailee letter.