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Aalon Capital LLCHOMEOur TeamInvestorsPodcast
Aalon Capital LLCOur TeamInvestorsPodcast

Mortgage Loans and Multifamily

James Eng

As a Senior Director for Old Capital, James Eng has financed over 800 million in multi-family properties, and over 125 properties since 2015. Before joining Old Capital, James underwrote 750 million loans over eight years, for the acquisition or re-finance of commercial properties at GE Real Estate as a Senior Underwriter. Prior to his work at GE Real Estate, he completed GE’s finance shield management program, at GE, with rotations in Connecticut, Colorado, Texas, and multiple businesses. James also received his undergraduate studies in finance from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. In this episode, James talks about his vast experience in mortgage underwriting and lending.

Important Points in This Episode

  • How did James start in mortgage brokery
  • What attracted James to the real estate industry and what kept him hooked in the business
  • Importance of knowing the property’s history, is it going to be profitable, and why investors should invest on it
  • A walk-through on the different types of loans that are available to multi-family investors
  • Strengths and weaknesses of bank recourse loan, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, non-recourse bridge (shorter term loans), and the differences of these types of loans
  • Property types that is generally qualified for non-recourse in terms of dollar amount/value and door numbers
  • Term limits that lenders usually set to qualify an investor, how different types of properties qualify to those loans
  • Definition of “stabilized” in terms of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan type
  • Definition of “bridge loans”
  • Other options that are commonly associated with loans that people get, specifically IO loans
  • What should syndicators, that are looking to re-finance after their renovation period, be careful to avoid
  • How has the lending market responded to the pandemic, and how the market changed during these times
  • Insights on the lending market at present
  • James’ projection on when bridge lenders can come back to the market
  • Best part of being a real estate investor
  • Ideal partner or client in the business
  • Mistakes made by James in the past, and his takeaways

Resources

Quotes

  • “A lot of these properties, these are like the investor’s baby: when you call somebody’s property ‘ugly’, they are very offended… and so it is a lot of fun! I love when people call me and they just ask me, ‘Hey, do you know this property?’, and the whole history of it for the last five, ten years of that property and every one of these things is sort of like a living, breathing, organism.”
  • “As an investor, you have to understand the numbers, there’s no doubt about it. But then, you go out and you sell this property to passive investors as a general partner. You have to be able to tell the story and understand it.”
  • “Understanding your pre-payment penalty is gonna drive your interest rate and your leverage, and those are the things that you have to take into consideration.”
  • “Cash flow- the reason I’m a real estate investor was in 2015 I looked at my ROTH IRA, I looked at my 401(K), I looked at my savings account, and said, ‘Alright, if the world came to an end, and I lost my job and everything, how long could I survive?”
  • “My guy is the guy who is looking to get started in this business, helping me, and me helping them grow from their existing W2 job into a full time real estate investor.
  • “If you’re going to invest in any deal, you have to go and see it.”