Need a loan to build? You better come prepared.

It’s a sobering experience when a bank won’t give you a $5 million revolving line of credit to build a housing development in one of the worst states in the country right now for real estate.  I remember the good ol days – not too long ago when a developer could pay: a savvy architect to master up some blueprints, a creative mind to draw up some colorful sketch of a high-rise (with of course those fancy cars that haven’t been invented yet parked on or zooming down the street, to the skinniest people sipping their morning cup of Joe while the wearing all the latest fashion on a beautiful sunny day…but I digress) and voila – he could get all the financing (bridge, construction, and mezzanine – thanks NCO Capital) he could ever want. 

Well – have the tides turned or what!?!?  Developers of new condos, mid-rises and master-planned communities are having to check their egos and pizzazz at the door when they enter a lending institution (what we like to call banks) and really plead their case in order to get their project a certain amount of funding.  Most developers that I have researched are simply waiting this dry spell out and hopefully will start building again in a year or two.  This can be seen in many parts of Florida and really all over the country – especially with condos.  Many Orlando condos for sale are not going vertical simply because developers can’t secure the type of funding needed in this housing market.  Is the end of this market in site?