Underwrite the opportunity
We review property performance, sponsorship, business plan, and financing priorities.
The multifamily sector consistently attracts strong capital flows due to fundamental housing demand, favorable demographics, and government-backed lending programs. Agency financing through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offers the most competitive long-term rates with non-recourse terms, while bank and life company options provide flexibility for portfolio borrowers. CLS CRE specializes in multifamily financing across all subtypes, from conventional apartments to manufactured housing communities.
Underwriting starts with the asset: income durability, tenancy or operations, physical condition, market position, sponsorship, and the proposed business plan shape the lender universe.
We match the property, sponsorship, and business plan to lenders with current appetite, then compare proceeds, pricing, recourse, reserves, prepayment, and closing certainty.
| Financing path | Where it may fit |
|---|---|
| Agency (Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac) | Programmatic multifamily or housing capital with defined underwriting, documentation, and eligibility requirements. |
| Bank Permanent Loans | Relationship-oriented capital that can offer local market knowledge and structural flexibility, with recourse often considered. |
| Life Insurance Company Loans | Long-duration fixed-rate capital for high-quality assets and experienced sponsors, generally with conservative leverage. |
| CMBS | Non-recourse execution with broad property appetite, balanced against more standardized servicing and prepayment provisions. |
| Bridge & Value-Add | Flexible short-term capital for acquisition, lease-up, renovation, repositioning, or other transitional business plans before stabilization or sale. |
| Construction | Draw-based financing for ground-up development, major renovation, or conversion, sized to budget, schedule, sponsorship, and the planned permanent exit. |
The objective is not simply to find a lender. It is to create a credible, comparable set of financing choices around the transaction.
Property-level insight and lender appetite have to meet before pricing becomes meaningful.
We review property performance, sponsorship, business plan, and financing priorities.
The request is matched to capital sources that understand the asset and market.
Rate, proceeds, recourse, reserves, prepayment, and execution risk are evaluated together.
We coordinate lender diligence, third-party reports, documentation, and issue resolution through funding.
We arrange multifamily financing nationwide while accounting for local property fundamentals and lender appetite.
The final structure depends on the property, sponsor, market, and requested execution.
Sizing your equity? See the down payment guide for commercial property: typically 20% to 30% down, with SBA owner occupied from 10%.
Multifamily properties enjoy the broadest financing options in commercial real estate, including agency loans (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac), bank loans, life insurance company loans, CMBS, bridge loans, and construction financing. Agency programs offer the most competitive rates with non-recourse terms.
Most commercial multifamily loans apply to properties with 5 or more units, since 1-4 unit assets generally fall under residential lending guidelines. Commercial Lending Solutions handles multifamily financing requests starting at $2MM, with capital available for larger single assets and portfolios exceeding $100MM.
Multifamily loan rates range from 5.34% to 8.25% depending on the lender type and deal specifics. Agency loans (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac) offer the most competitive rates, typically 5.34% to 6.50% for stabilized properties with strong fundamentals.
Yes. Manufactured housing communities (mobile home parks) qualify for competitive financing from agency lenders, banks, and life insurance companies. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both have dedicated manufactured housing programs with favorable terms.
Multifamily LTV ratios range from 65% to 80%, depending on the lender type. Agency programs can offer up to 80% LTV, while banks and life companies typically cap at 70-75%. Bridge loans for value-add multifamily may go up to 75-80% of as-is value.
Agency financing (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac) requires a stabilized property with minimum 90% occupancy, a debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) of 1.20x-1.25x minimum, a borrower with multifamily experience and strong net worth, and a property in good physical condition.
Share the property and transaction. We will respond within 24 hours with an initial view.