Adam Gottfried
Roc Capital is uniquely positioned to be your trusted partner, especially in this rising rate market, thanks to our wide range of products, customer-friendly processes, a comprehensive suite of services ranging from white label table funding to full back office support and a full technology suite. We’re dedicated to executing for our clients and ensuring their success.
I represented Roc Capital at the Single Family Rental Summit in Dallas, TX and spoke about our processes on two panels at the conference. Here’s a flavor of how our processes are geared towards ensuring quick, easy, and efficient closings.
Our processes are focused on your success
In my first panel discussion, Due Diligence: Wisdom from the Front Lines, I spoke about Roc Capital’s dedication to customer success, and shared some of our best practices and processes for loan origination.
I explained how, at Roc Capital, we’re focused on executing for our clients. As lenders we’re invested in achieving what our borrowers need, to help them do what they do well, which is operate their portfolios and properties, source new ones, and then do it again together.
Our due diligence processes are aligned to these goals. Our process is simple and efficient:
The all-important kickoff call
It still surprises me how many times, in the industry, deals are closed without a proper kickoff call where the lender gets on the phone with the borrower to understand their needs and goals, which are often taken for granted. Not only does this lead to process churn and delays in closing, it can also mean missed opportunities for the borrower and lender to discuss goals and expectations and put together a better deal for everyone.
The kickoff call is a key best practice at Roc Capital. We make sure to connect with the borrower early in the process, to walk through our program and products, understand the borrower’s goals and how the deal fits with their previous history, and to clarify the information we need to facilitate a faster closing. Not only does the kickoff all help everyone do their due diligence and ensure a smoother process, it can also present opportunities that are more organic that come up in the conversation. Even just having the borrower walk you through their portfolio and how they got it to where it is today can instill a sense of confidence (from a lender’s point of view) in the borrower’s ability to execute. Or, based on the borrower talking about what they need, the lender might say. “We can actually do something different that’s better for you.”
Everyone is so busy and focused on getting a deal signed and moving on, it’s easy to overlook having a kickoff call. But our experience at Roc Capital has shown us that it’s always worth investing the time to connect with the borrower, even if it’s only for a few minutes, early on in the process.
Documents and processing
We only ask for documents that are needed and we don’t ask for documents that aren’t. We also break up the process into manageable components in order to not overwhelm the borrower. Our approach activates sub-processes early and in parallel to other processes, so that we can get to a closing as quickly as possible.
Typically, we ask for three different types of documents::
- Property level documents – such as leases for individual units, property tax bills, and property-level insurance.
- Sponsorship level documents – such as the borrower’s real estate property track record and experience level.
- Borrowing entity level documents – such as the operating agreement (the document that dictates the agreement all the investors have among themselves to the entity to which we’re lending).
At the beginning of the process we focus on sponsorship level and property level documents so we can get them to our appraiser team quickly, speeding up the overall process. Getting sponsorship level items at the beginning helps us avoid any red flags or surprises. Also to the extent that there’s something we weren’t expecting, we can talk through that at the beginning, to avoid back-loading more stress towards the end of the process, near closing. Borrowing entity documents are more clerical – we typically work with the borrower’s attorney so we can round out our package and approve the loan.
We work with you to provide solutions for specific scenarios
In my second panel discussion, Financing Strategies: Learn What to Expect, I shared how Roc Capital recognizes that not everyone has the same scenario. But no matter what your specific situation is, we want to work with you to provide a solution. We offer a very wide range of financing options. Whether it’s bridge or term, single family or multifamily, small portfolio or big portfolio, big city or small market, we truly are active in a very big way. Here are a few scenarios I discussed at the conference, which should give you an idea of our service mindset:
- You’ve sourced a single family home that’s in distress and it needs to be renovated – whether it’s light cosmetic updates or “gut” renovations (new walls, new layouts, etc.), we can handle that.
- You own 50 properties and you need a $7 million portfolio loan for very high end homes. Yes, you can count on us.
- Your seller is in distress and needs to sell, and you come to us at the last minute. We can still give you a very professional experience to get you a loan that allows you to buy the home and renovate it in the timeframe that you need it.
- You’ve owned a portfolio of single family homes for a long time, you have little to no debt on the portfolio, and they may be scattered around a specific city or metropolitan area. We can work with you to provide lending options that may give you a cashout to help you improve the properties or buy more properties.
- We can offer a fixed rate for you in today’s low interest rate environment (which is still comparatively low, historically), and have it be amortizing, so you’re slowly paying off the debt. When the loan matures, you’ll own it again, debt-free.
Whatever your situation, Roc Capital can help you close and help you achieve your stated business plan. We’re there for you. Contact us to get started!
About the author
Adam Gottfried is a Director of Roc Capital’s Commercial Real Estate Group, which he joined in 2018. He is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, structuring, and asset managing across all lending products at Roc Capital. Prior to Roc Capital, Adam worked for Arbor Realty Trust’s Structured Finance group, and was on the Acquisitions team of Mack Cali. He received a B.S. degree in Management from Arizona State University, and an MBA from Baruch College.
