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Special Reports
Commercial Loans
Silver Hill Focuses on Small Balances, Broker Education
By James Comtois
Despite the mortgage industry facing tough times, Silver Hill Financial LLC, a
nationwide commercial real estate lender here that offers financing to borrowers through a network of mortgage
professionals and correspondents, is not only sticking with its model of lending small-balance commercial loans,
but also educating brokers on such loans.
Notwithstanding challenging conditions in the industry, Silver Hill continues
to lend nationwide with our small-balance commercial product. We remain focused as always on providing the best
support we can for our broker partners, said Joanna Schwartz, managing director for Silver Hill.
The lender specializes in small-balance commercial loans from $100,000 to $1.5
million, offering a borrower-focused approach to commercial underwriting. Unlike many lenders, Silver Hill is 100%
focused in the small-commercial niche.
The company created a flexible debt-to-income underwriting approach for small-balance
commercial lending in 2003, making commercial loans easier for mortgage professionals, more accessible to borrowers
and faster for both.
This advantage to consider the borrower's DTI and the property's debt-service
coverage enables Silver Hill to finance properties that may not qualify under traditional commercial underwriting
guidelines.
Additionally, Silver Hill is one of three origination channels within Bayview
Lending Group LLC, a commercial mortgage lending company operated by Bayview Financial. Bayview Financial is a
full-service real estate investment and mortgage finance company with billions in assets and more than 20 years
of experience.
According to Ms. Schwartz, one of the ways Silver Hill has consistently supported
brokers over the years is through training and education, since knowledge enables confidence for brokers when it
comes to commercial transactions. "We continue to deliver weekly online training sessions on a range of topics
and anyone can register for those on our website in the training center. Most of our sessions are now available
on-demand as well, so brokers can participate at their convenience if not able to join the live webinars,"
she said.
In addition, Silver Hill has been working closely with the National Association
of Mortgage Brokers on its new commercial mortgage broker program. "The goal is to expand the member base
and offer new services and education for commercial-focused brokers. Members of our staff are actively involved
on the commercial mortgage professional advisory committee, which recently launched a professional development
program aimed at commercial brokers of all experience levels."
The program includes seminars, training courses offered at national and regional
conferences, and a webinar series. The webinars will be presented in two tracks, one for experienced commercial
brokers and another for residential brokers who want to add commercial activity to their business.
Silver Hill is also presenting a seminar at the NAMB annual conference in Indianapolis,
June 19-23.
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