Revolution breathing new life, and dollars, into lending industry

Real Estate Weekly, 2007  by Gregg Wolfer

The Situational Lending Movement gives borrowers, brokers, and investors opportunities that were previously hard to come by.

When people think of revolutions, they usually envision a group, a faction, or a nation rising up against some kind of perceived injustice or unfairness. These usually involve coups, Molotov cocktails, betrayal, spies, and everything else that goes into a popular political intrigue bestseller. Some revolutions, however, do not require any of the above but, rather, a fundamental re-thinking of certain core issues at the heart of whatever system the movement opposes. And this is precisely the sort of insurrection currently being fomented by Kennedy Funding.

At Kennedy, we're urging borrowers and brokers alike to take a fresh look at the lending industry, and the roles of traditional lenders vis-a-vis those of direct private lenders. Even though our version is distinctly nonviolent, however, it's nonetheless a full-blown rebellion against the ways that the traditional sources have typically approached the entire lending process.

At the heart of our philosophy is what we refer to as situational lending, a school of thought at the opposite end of the spectrum from conservative lending institutions that are bogged down in bureaucratic restrictions and requirements. When we started out in 1986, no one had heard of situational lending, including us. But we took a close look at the banks and the credit unions, and saw that they took forever to close a loan--if they didn't decide to decline the borrower outright. So we made it our goal to deliver the things traditionalists couldn't, or wouldn't: speed and flexibility, along with somewhere to go when the banks had turned applicants down.

As time went by and our way of doing things caught on, we added to our situational lending 'manifesto' until, today, it consists of several components. First and foremost, it means speed, closing the deal in the shortest possible time and getting the money and/or commission to the borrower and/or broker in as few as five days.

Secondly, it means flexibility, where each loan is evaluated on its own merit, rather than on a 'cookie cutter' approach taken by traditional lenders. This creativity enables us to close loans that non-situational lenders routinely call 'un-doable,' based upon their numerous ratios and restrictions.

Third, Kennedy's lower rates make it an even more desirable lending destination to borrowers, brokers, and investors alike.

All of which leads to the final point: Based upon all of the above, in many situations situational lenders should be approached first, without pausing to consult a bank or other conventional lender, and should be viewed as being able to provide almost any kind of loan, not merely bridge loans and/or hard money loans. The entire 'movement' has been a continuous process.

We've always told potential clients that there are bona fide alternatives to the traditionalists, and things evolved from there. Today, we're calling on them to view situational lending as more mainstream and join the new movement. Why? Because we can offer things that other lenders will not consider--including raw land loans, which our philosophy not only makes possible, but distinctly commonplace.

You may well ask how this revolution is developing, and the answer would be 'very well.' Our volume or the years 2005-2006 was up more than 200% over the previous two years, and we are on pace for our best year ever. Another development of which we're particularly proud is that we have recently received a $200 million securitization from Fortis Bank, an international financial services provider engaged in banking and insurance, headquartered in Europe.

So we now have the opportunity to make even more inroads into the capital markets, while making significantly greater funds available to our clients, at even more favorable rates. All of which led to the creation of the new Kennedy Website.

For those interested in learning more about situational lending, it's located at www.kennedyfunding.com/revolution, and offers a high degree of interaction and in-depth informational content.

In conclusion, the situational lending revolution boils down to a single, simple premise: Situational lending is creativity itself. We look at each loan individually and judge it on its own merits.

Once we've done that, we're able to close the deal, and accomplish what the traditional lender would call 'impossible.'

It isn't impossible; it's situational lending in action.

By Gregg Wolfer, co-CEO,

Kennedy Funding, Inc.