Commercial portfolio loans, structured for the deals banks pass on.
CMC matches investors and business owners who don't fit traditional bank guidelines with portfolio lenders who underwrite the story behind the numbers.
Portfolio lending solutions for commercial real estate.
Commercial property investors who can't qualify for a bank loan often default to higher-rate hard money. There is another option. Portfolio lenders are smaller, relationship-driven banks with less rigid commercial guidelines. Unlike national banks, they don't resell their commercial mortgages — which means they can flex on terms, structure, and timing to fit the borrower.
Applications, approvals, and closings are trimmed down. Story matters. The right portfolio lender takes the time to understand your scenario and your cash flow, and our team has spent years cultivating that exact network — lenders who trust our judgment and act on it.
When CMC pitches your deal, we're pitching it to people who already know how we underwrite. That trust shortens timelines, removes friction, and frequently turns a "no" elsewhere into a clean term sheet here.
Schedule a consultation →Let CMC connect you with portfolio lending.
Flexible financing,
made easy.
Property financing solutions, crafted by experts who understand real estate goals. Senior-led, story-driven, and structured against the realities of your deal.
Get expert brokerage guidance →No minimum FICO score required
Bad credit is not a deal breaker
30-year repayment terms available
No prepayment penalties
Fast closings
Often 15 days or less
What is a portfolio loan?
A portfolio loan is a commercial mortgage that the lender writes and then keeps on its own balance sheet, instead of selling it into the secondary market. That single structural difference is what makes the whole category behave differently from a conventional bank loan, an agency loan or a conduit loan.
When a lender intends to sell a loan, the buyer sets the rules. Credit thresholds, property condition, entity structure, seasoning requirements and documentation are all written to satisfy someone else. When a lender intends to keep the loan, it answers only to its own credit committee. It can look at the property, the rent roll and the sponsor, decide the risk is acceptable, and write the terms it is comfortable holding for the next ten or thirty years.
You will see the same thing called a portfolio loan, a balance-sheet loan, a portfolio mortgage or an in-house loan, and the lenders called portfolio lenders or portfolio mortgage lenders. The terms are interchangeable. What matters is who holds the paper, because that determines how much flexibility exists when your deal does not fit a template.
Portfolio loan is not the same as hard money. Both are flexible, but a hard money or bridge loan is short-term, asset-based and priced for speed. A portfolio loan is permanent financing with amortization and long-term rates, underwritten on cash flow. Borrowers who assume flexibility only comes at hard-money pricing are often overpaying for years.
Portfolio loan vs. the alternatives.
Most borrowers arrive at portfolio lending after a bank has already said no. It helps to see where the category actually sits, because the choice is rarely portfolio versus nothing. It is usually portfolio versus waiting, or portfolio versus paying bridge pricing for a deal that does not need it.
| Source | Loan size | Max leverage | Term | Credit flexibility | Typical speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio / balance sheet | $250K – $250M | Up to 80% LTV | Up to 30 years | High — no minimum FICO on many programs | Often 15 days or less |
| Conventional bank | $250K – $25M | Up to 75% LTV | 5 – 10 yr fixed, 20 – 25 yr amortization | Low — scorecard driven | 45 – 90 days |
| Agency multifamily | $1M – $100M+ | Up to 80% LTV | 5 – 30 years | Low — strict, formula based | 45 – 90 days |
| CMBS / conduit | $2M – $100M+ | Up to 75% LTV | 5 – 10 years, interest only available | Low — property driven, rigid documents | 45 – 75 days |
| Hard money / bridge | $1M – $75M | Up to 80% of cost | 12 – 36 months | Very high — asset based | 2 – 4 weeks |
Ranges are indicative only and reflect programs CMC places across a network of 750+ lenders. Actual structure, leverage and pricing depend on the property, the market, the sponsor and current lender appetite. Nothing on this page is a commitment to lend.
Who portfolio lending is built for.
Portfolio lenders are not a last resort. They are the correct first call for a specific set of borrowers whose files are perfectly sound but do not survive an automated credit box. If you recognise yourself below, a portfolio loan is probably the right product rather than the fallback.
- Self-employed and bank-statement borrowers. Strong deposits, aggressive write-offs, and a tax return that understates real income. Portfolio lenders can underwrite deposits and property cash flow instead of adjusted gross income.
- Investors holding several properties. Conventional lenders start counting doors and cap exposure. A portfolio lender can cross-collateralize a group of assets under one loan and one closing.
- Borrowers with a credit event. A past short sale, a discharged bankruptcy, a medical collection or a thin file. Many programs carry no minimum FICO requirement, so the story gets read rather than scored.
- Foreign nationals and non-resident investors. No US credit history and no social security number is a hard stop for most banks and a normal file for a portfolio lender.
- Small-balance commercial deals. Loans that are too small to interest a conduit desk and too unusual for a branch bank. Small commercial portfolio lending is where balance-sheet lenders are most competitive.
- Non-conforming properties. Mixed-use with an odd commercial ratio, single-tenant industrial, live-work, older buildings with deferred maintenance, or a property mid-lease-up.
- Deals against a deadline. A 1031 exchange window, a maturing loan, or a seller who wants certainty. Closings often land in 15 days or less.
- Entity and trust ownership. LLCs, partnerships, series entities and trusts that create documentation problems in a conventional file.
If your deal is a 5+ unit residential asset, start with apartment building loans. If it is a stabilized commercial property that a bank would ordinarily accept, compare against our commercial mortgage programs first — there is no reason to pay for flexibility you do not need.
How to choose the best portfolio lender.
There is no single best portfolio lender, and any list that claims otherwise is selling advertising. The best portfolio lender is the one whose current appetite matches your asset, your leverage and your timeline this quarter. Appetite moves constantly, which is the entire reason a broker exists. These are the criteria that actually decide the outcome.
- Asset-class appetite right now. A lender that loved mixed-use in the spring may be full on retail exposure today. Current appetite beats reputation every time.
- Whether they truly hold the loan. Some lenders market themselves as portfolio lenders but sell participations, which reimposes outside guidelines. Ask who owns the loan after closing.
- Leverage against your basis. Getting to 80% LTV matters far more than a small difference in rate if the alternative is a larger cash injection.
- Prepayment structure. A slightly higher rate with no prepayment penalty often costs less in total than a lower rate with five years of step-down. Model the hold period, not the coupon.
- Credit posture. Programs range from mildly flexible to no minimum FICO. Sending a bruised file to a scorecard lender wastes weeks and produces a decline that sits on your record.
- Realistic closing speed. Ask how many loans they closed in the last quarter, not how fast they can theoretically move.
- Who services the loan. A lender that keeps servicing in house is far easier to work with on a future modification, release or additional advance.
CMC runs one inquiry across 750+ lenders and more than 500,000 programs, so the shortlist reflects live appetite rather than last year's rate sheet. More about how we work.
What portfolio lenders actually underwrite.
Flexible does not mean unexamined. A portfolio lender still needs to be comfortable holding the loan for the full term, so the analysis is often more thorough than a conventional file — it is simply weighted differently. Less emphasis on the credit score, far more on whether the property services the debt.
- Debt service coverage. Most balance-sheet programs want net operating income to cover debt service with a cushion, commonly in the 1.20x to 1.25x range. This is the number that sets your loan amount more often than LTV does.
- Leverage against value. Up to 80% LTV is achievable on the right scenario. Lower leverage buys you rate, longer amortization and looser covenants.
- Occupancy and rent roll quality. Physical occupancy, lease terms, tenant concentration, and how much of the rent roll is month to month or below market.
- Property condition and deferred maintenance. Portfolio lenders will finance imperfect buildings, but they price and reserve for the work.
- Sponsor experience. Comparable assets owned and operated matters more than net worth on many files.
- Liquidity and reserves. Post-closing liquidity, not just the down payment. Thin reserves are one of the most common reasons a strong deal is resized.
- Entity structure and guaranty. Who signs, whether the guaranty is full or partial, and whether the entity is clean enough to close quickly.
- Exit or hold plan. Even on 30-year money, the lender wants a coherent answer about what happens to the asset.
What to have ready. Files that arrive complete are the files that close in fifteen days.
- Current rent roll with lease start and end dates
- Trailing twelve months of operating statements
- Two years of property-level profit and loss
- Personal financial statement and schedule of real estate owned
- Twelve months of bank statements if you are documenting income by deposit
- Entity documents, operating agreement and certificate of good standing
- Purchase contract or existing note and mortgage for a refinance
- Photographs and a short scope of work if any renovation is planned
Timeline. Term sheet in two to five business days on a complete file. Closings often land in 15 days or less, with 30 days being a comfortable outside expectation once third-party reports are ordered. You can model payments first with the commercial loan calculator.
Where we place portfolio loans.
CMC is a New York based brokerage that places portfolio loans nationwide. The New York metropolitan area is where our lender relationships run deepest, which matters because portfolio lenders are regional by nature — a balance-sheet lender in Westchester will underwrite a Yonkers walk-up with a confidence a national desk cannot match.
- Manhattan
- Brooklyn
- Queens
- The Bronx
- Staten Island
- Yonkers and Westchester County
- Long Island, Nassau and Suffolk
- Rockland and Orange County
- Northern New Jersey
- Fairfield County, Connecticut
- Upstate New York
- Nationwide through our lender network
Looking for portfolio lenders in New York specifically? That is the core of the practice. Send the address, the rent roll and the loan amount and you will have a realistic read on leverage and structure the same day. Request a free consultation or send us the deal.
Portfolio loan FAQs.
What is a portfolio loan?
A portfolio loan is a commercial mortgage the lender keeps on its own balance sheet rather than selling into the secondary market. Because no outside buyer sets the guidelines, the lender can write its own credit, leverage and documentation standards, which is why portfolio loans accommodate borrowers and properties that conventional programs decline.
What credit score do you need for a portfolio loan?
Many of the programs CMC places carry no minimum FICO requirement. Credit still matters, but it is one input among several rather than a pass-fail gate. A past bankruptcy, short sale, collection or a thin credit file will not automatically end the conversation if the property cash flows and the sponsor can explain what happened.
How much can I borrow with a portfolio loan?
CMC places portfolio loans from $250,000 to $250 million. In practice the loan amount is set by debt service coverage rather than by the top of the range, so net operating income and the prevailing rate usually determine the number before leverage does. Up to 80% LTV is achievable on the right scenario.
What are portfolio loan rates?
The programs CMC places currently price in a 3% to 6% range depending on asset class, leverage, term, recourse and sponsor strength. Rates move with the underlying index and with individual lender appetite, so any figure quoted without seeing the file is an estimate. Send the deal and you will get an indicative range against the actual property.
How fast can a portfolio loan close?
Term sheets typically come back within two to five business days on a complete file, and closings often land in 15 days or less. The variable is almost never the lender. It is how quickly the appraisal, title and rent roll documentation arrive, which is why the document checklist above matters.
Can I finance multiple properties with one portfolio loan?
Yes. Cross-collateralizing several assets under a single portfolio loan is one of the clearest advantages of balance-sheet lending. It consolidates closings, reduces total cost, and lets equity in a stronger property support leverage on a weaker one. Conventional lenders generally cannot do this because secondary-market buyers will not accept it.
Do portfolio loans have prepayment penalties?
It varies by lender, and it is negotiable in a way that agency and conduit prepayment structures are not. Programs with no prepayment penalty are available. If you expect to sell or refinance within a few years, prioritise prepayment flexibility over the headline rate — the total cost is usually lower.
Are portfolio lenders available in New York?
Yes, and New York is where CMC's portfolio lender relationships are strongest. We regularly place balance-sheet loans across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Yonkers, Westchester, Long Island, northern New Jersey and Connecticut, and nationwide through the wider network.
Information on this page is general and for educational purposes. It is not a commitment to lend, an offer of credit, or financial advice. Loan programs, rates, leverage and terms are subject to change, lender approval, and underwriting of the specific property and borrower.
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