SBA Construction loans lender or regular Construction Loans lender

Recommendations?

Newtek One-SBA Lender
http://www.newtekone.com/loans/commercial-real-estate/

My partner and I review all the SBA lending reports that come out every quarter. One way to figure out who is doing construction is to look at the closed loans, and see who puts the term more than 300 months. Yes, I realize the max term on a SBA 7a loan is 25 years for real estate; but on construction loans, they will typically be for somewhere around 312 months with the first year being interest-only. There are a lot of SBA lenders that post on their website that they do construction loans, but I have found that many of them don't and just waste peoples time. If it were me, Celtic Bank, Live Oak Bank, and Stearns Bank are 3 of the better construction lenders.

I'd personally go with Stearns bank because they have a heavy focus on commercial real estate lending. Just make sure you put a referral agreement in place with the borrower because Stearns can be skimpy with referral fees.

Yes, Stearns is good with construction and that they are tight on the referral fees. Celtic actually does more than them, and pays better so that's why I listed them. Live Oak just crushes every other 7a lender in terms of construction volume so I couldn't leave them off.

Also, here is some data that may help you:

FY 2017 Top 5 7a Lenders for Loans >300 Months

1. Live Oak Bank: $233,879,000
2. Wells Fargo: $95,459,800
3. Compass Bank: $40,497,600
4. Celtic Bank: $37,062,620
5. First Savings Bank: $24,137,600

I pulled this from a list that I complete each quarter, and would be happy to send you the complete list if that would help. At any rate, this does not mean I necessarily recommend going with each of these lenders, as it would depend on your deal. Wells Fargo for example is one of the last lenders I would take a construction loan to, and the fact that they are on the top 5 list is not all that impressive given the size of their bank. Additionally, they are terrible with certain industries like restaurants or hospitality. Live Oak Bank is by far the top construction lender in FY 2017, 2016, and 2015 (by almost double in each year). The construction lender report that I did I only went back to 2015, but I would imagine they were at or near the top beyond that as well. As I previously mentioned, I would also try Celtic as they are probably my favorite to work with in terms of construction. If you still have trouble placing this and need help, send me some information on your deal and I will try to point you in the right direction. I am a complete noob when it comes to the MCA products, but SBA is something that I know inside and out. Good luck.