Built on a live database of capital sources

The right lender, not a list of them.

Lender Compass matches commercial real estate borrowers with the capital sources that actually fit the deal — banks, debt funds, agencies, and insurance companies, screened live on every match.

2,643SOURCES TRACKED

10CAPITAL TYPES

Top 20RANKED PER MATCH

Sourcing List · LC-2607 Match running

PropertyMultifamily · Class B

Loan$14,500,000

LocationDallas, TX

PriorityLowest rate

NAMES & CONTACTS REVEALED IN YOUR RESULTS SCREENED LIVE

By the numbers

One database, every capital type.

Every figure here is a live count from the lender table your match runs against — debt sources only, from community banks to CMBS desks.

2,643

Capital sources tracked

BNKBanksCommunity through money-center0
DF/BRDebt funds & bridge lendersValue-add and transitional capital0
LIFEInsurance companiesLong-term, stabilized assets0
TYPCapital typesAgency, CMBS, credit union, SBA & more0

For borrowers

Find lenders.

Answer a few questions about the deal and get a ranked sourcing list, generated live against the full lender database.

Run a match →

Learn

Capital guide.

A plain-language breakdown of Bank, Debt Fund, CMBS, Life Insurance, and Agency financing — and who each one is really for.

Read the guide →

For lenders

Create your profile.

Add your firm to the database so borrowers sourcing capital can find you. Submissions are reviewed before going live.

Create your profile →

How it works

From deal profile to sourcing list.

The full database never leaves the server. You describe the deal, the matching engine filters and ranks against every record, and only the lenders who fit come back.

Describe the deal

Property type, loan amount, location, performance, and the attribute that matters most to you — rate, leverage, recourse, or speed.

The engine filters

Hard filters remove lenders who can’t do the deal: wrong geography, wrong size, wrong capital type, wrong stabilization profile.

Get your top 20

The survivors are ranked by your priority, with local relationship banks boosted and no capital type allowed to crowd out the rest.

PRIVATE BY DESIGN — your deal profile filters the database; the database is never exposed to you or anyone else.

Capital guide

Know the players before you run the match.

Five capital types quote most of the market. Each one trades rate, leverage, recourse, and flexibility differently — the guide breaks down when each is the right starting point.

Capital type	Best fit	Signature strength	The trade-off
Bank	Transitional or stabilized	Most versatile — flexible terms, higher leverage, prepay flexibility	Full-recourse guaranty and deposits typically required
Debt Fund	Value-add / transitional	Structured around the business plan; non-recourse, fast closes	Highest rates and fees of any capital source
CMBS	Stabilized, long hold	Non-recourse, high-leverage cash-out on trailing NOI	Very inflexible prepayment and loan documents
Life Insurance	Stabilized, long hold	Lowest rates in market; no fees, easy servicing	Lowest leverage; strictest underwriting of the bunch
Agency	Stabilized multifamily	Competitive rates, IO periods, cash-out refis	Multifamily only; yield-maintenance prepay

Have a deal? Run it against the full database.

Quick read: if your property is stabilized and cash-flowing, Agency, CMBS, and Life Insurance lenders usually offer the lowest rates but the least flexibility. If you're mid-renovation, in lease-up, or not yet cash-flowing, a Debt Fund or Bank bridge loan is typically the realistic path — at a higher rate, in exchange for speed and flexibility.

Bank

Transitional or stabilized

The most versatile lender type — able to quote development, transitional, and stabilized properties, and the most common starting point for most borrowers.

Advantages

Flexible terms — 3, 5, 7, or 10 years
Fixed or floating interest rate options
No cash flow sweep or reserves
Willing to do more challenging property types — hotels, office, special use, spec development
Prepayment flexibility (open or step-down)
Higher leverage than other lender profiles — up to ~75% LTC, subject to 1.25x DSCR and borrower strength

Disadvantages

Full-recourse guaranty typically required
Upfront deposits required, usually 5–10% of loan amount
Minimal interest-only periods — 1–2 years for value-add plans
Upfront fee typically 0.75%–1.00%

Debt Fund

Value-add / transitional

Built for value-add business plans — renovations, lease-ups, conversions — and properties not yet stabilized enough for traditional lenders. Will consider all property types, with stricter underwriting on harder ones like hospitality and office.

Advantages

Creativity to structure the loan around the business plan, including capitalizing future funding for improvements
Non-recourse
No deposit requirements
Full-term interest-only
Quick closes
Usually 3-year primary term with two 1-year extension options

Disadvantages

Highest interest rate of all capital sources
Typically yield-maintenance prepayment for half the primary term (e.g. 18 months on a 3-year loan)
Higher upfront fees — typically 1% origination, 1% exit, plus 0.25–0.50% per extension

CMBS / Conduit

Stabilized, long-term hold

In-place cash flow only — the property needs to be stabilized, generally 90%+ occupied — for a long-term hold investment horizon.

Advantages

Non-recourse
Looser underwriting on the borrower — less weight on guarantor strength, past bankruptcy, or foreclosure
Higher leverage — 70–75% LTC, with cash-out proceeds available
No origination fees, no deposit requirements
Longer amortization — 30 years vs. 20–25 for a credit union or bank

Disadvantages

Very inflexible prepayment — typically a 2-year lockout, then defeasance
Requires ongoing reserves (taxes, insurance, replacement/leasing costs, capex)
Cash flow sweeps if performance declines
Inflexible loan documents, and can be difficult to work with the third-party servicer

Life Insurance Company

Stabilized, long-term hold

In-place cash flow only, no heavy value-add — and the strictest underwriting of the bunch. Unlikely to quote non-grocery-anchored retail, hotels, or office.

Advantages

Non-recourse
Lowest interest rates of any capital provider
No origination fees, no deposit requirements
Longer amortization — 30 years vs. 20–25 for a credit union or bank
Easier servicing — loans are kept on balance sheet

Disadvantages

Lowest leverage of any capital provider
Very inflexible prepayment — typically yield maintenance (some will offer step-down for additional spread)
Very selective on borrower experience and financial strength
Very selective on property type and historical performance
Does not offer full-term interest-only — typically only 12–24 months

Agency (Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac)

Stabilized multifamily

Multifamily-only lending arms of the GSEs. All property types within multifamily are considered, with stricter underwriting on more challenging deal types.

Advantages

Fixed and floating-rate options at competitive interest rates
Willing to offer interest-only periods
Higher leverage relative to other long-term hold products
Willing to provide cash-out refinances

Disadvantages

Multifamily properties only
Inflexible prepayment — typically yield maintenance on fixed-rate products
Term length generally 5, 7, or 10 years

Examples

Example deal profiles

Every deal has a capital type that fits it best — driven by occupancy, cash flow, leverage, guaranty appetite, and timeline. These four real deal profiles show how that reasoning plays out in practice. Find the one closest to your situation to see which lender type to start with.

DEAL PROFILE — 01

Debt Fund

Value-Add Retail

Property Class "B" Retail Center Market Secondary Occupancy 70% (anchor vacant) DSCR 0.97x in-place Timeline 30-day diligence / 30-day close

A 70% occupied Class "B" retail center with the anchor space vacant, in a secondary market. The sponsor has a prospective anchor tenant under LOI and plans to sell off a pad site to a ground-lease user. The loan needs to fund anchor leasing costs and stay flexible enough to release the pad site as collateral once it sells. The sponsor prefers not to sign a full guaranty and doesn't have the deposits a bank relationship would require.

Key Deal Terms

Anchor space vacant, backfill under LOI, not yet signed
Sub-1.0x DSCR on current in-place cash flow
Leasing/TI dollars needed as part of the loan
Partial collateral release required for the pad site sale
Non-recourse preferred; no deposit relationship offered

Why Debt Fund

Vacant anchor space and sub-1.0x DSCR rule out Agency, CMBS, and Life Company capital, all of which require stabilized in-place cash flow
Partial release of the pad site is a structuring feature debt funds routinely accommodate; banks and permanent lenders rarely do
Debt funds underwrite to the asset and business plan, not sponsor liquidity — fitting a borrower without deposits for a bank
A 30/30 close matches the speed debt funds are built to deliver over life companies or CMBS

DEAL PROFILE — 02

Life Insurance Company

Stabilized Multifamily

Property Class "A" Multifamily Market Major Gateway Occupancy 97% Leverage 50% LTC DSCR 1.75x in-place

A 97% occupied Class "A" multifamily property in a major gateway market. The borrower is a well-established apartment owner with 5,000 units across their portfolio, a net worth of twice the requested loan amount, and liquidity of 50% of the loan amount. Leverage requested is conservative at 50% LTC, providing 1.75x DSCR on in-place cash flow. The sponsor plans to hold long term and maximize cash flow through the hold period, making rate the top priority.

Key Deal Terms

97% occupied, stabilized Class A asset in a gateway market
Conservative 50% LTC leverage request
1.75x DSCR on in-place cash flow
Institutional-grade sponsor: 2x net worth, 50% liquidity coverage
Long-term hold; lowest rate is the priority, not maximum proceeds

Why Life Insurance Company

High occupancy and strong in-place DSCR is exactly the stabilized profile life company capital is built to lend against
Conservative leverage fits life company appetite for lower-risk, lower-leverage loans over maximizing proceeds
Sponsor balance sheet strength clears the credit bar life companies require in place of a broader banking relationship
A rate-sensitive, long-hold borrower is the exact use case where life company pricing — typically the lowest in market for stabilized assets — outweighs the extra flexibility a bank or debt fund would offer

DEAL PROFILE — 03

Bank

Hotel Acquisition + PIP

Property 100-Key Limited-Service Hotel Market Secondary Leverage 70% LTC requested Guaranty Full/Personal Strategy Repeat, relationship lender

The borrower is acquiring an underperforming 100-key limited-service hotel and implementing a property improvement plan (PIP) in a secondary market. The sponsor has sufficient hotel experience and is seeking a competitive interest rate and higher leverage (70% LTC) in exchange for a personal guaranty. Providing deposits to the bank is acceptable given the sponsor's ample liquidity. The borrower also intends to complete a similar acquisition strategy elsewhere in the submarket, and wants a relationship lender who can finance multiple deals over time.

Key Deal Terms

Transitional hotel with an active PIP — not yet stabilized
70% LTC requested against a competitive rate
Full personal guaranty offered
Deposit relationship available
Repeat-deal intent within the same submarket

Why Bank

A hotel mid-PIP is a transitional, capex-heavy asset that Agency, CMBS, and Life Company capital do not finance
70% LTC at a competitive rate is achievable specifically because the sponsor is willing to sign full recourse — leverage a non-recourse lender would not extend on a transitional hotel
A deposit relationship plus intent to do repeat deals in the same submarket is the classic setup for a relationship bank willing to keep quoting future transactions
Sponsor experience and repeat-business potential give a bank underwriting comfort a one-off institutional lender would not extend as easily

DEAL PROFILE — 04

CMBS

Cash-Out Industrial Refi

Property Class "B" Multi-Tenant Industrial Market Secondary Occupancy 93% (historically 90%+) Objective Cash-Out Refinance Structure Full-Term Interest-Only

A 93% occupied Class "B" multi-tenant industrial property in a secondary market, historically 90%+ occupied with stable expenses. The borrower is looking for a cash-out refinance and intends to continue to hold and cash flow the property long term. The borrower's investors expect a 12%+ cash-on-cash return, making full-term interest-only preferable over an amortizing structure.

Key Deal Terms

Long, stable occupancy history (90%+) with stable expenses
Cash-out refinance objective on a long-term hold
Full-term interest-only structure required
Investor return target of 12%+ cash-on-cash

Why CMBS

A long stabilized occupancy history and steady expenses give CMBS underwriting — which sizes off trailing NOI, not projections — exactly what it needs to lend aggressively
Non-recourse, higher-leverage cash-out proceeds are more achievable through CMBS than a bank, which would typically require recourse for similar proceeds
Full-term interest-only is a hallmark CMBS feature that directly supports the borrower's 12%+ cash-on-cash return target
Granular, multi-tenant industrial income in a secondary market is bread-and-butter CMBS collateral

Have a deal that looks like one of these — or doesn't fit neatly into any of them? Run it through the matching tool to get a curated, ranked list of lenders for your specific deal.

Self-Assessment

Is Lender Compass right for your deal?

There are two ways to get a commercial loan closed: hire a full-service broker to manage the entire process — sourcing, underwriting, pitch materials, and close — for a fee that typically runs 1% of the loan amount, or use a limited-service platform like Lender Compass to get a curated, targeted list of the lenders most likely to compete for your deal, at a fraction of the cost. Neither is the better option for every deal. This page is here to help you figure out which one fits yours — and if it's the latter, we can point you to a trusted full-service partner.

Quick read: if you already understand your deal's numbers and just need the right lender introductions, limited service is usually the better economics. If your deal needs real structuring — construction financing, mezzanine or preferred equity, JV equity — or your situation needs someone advocating for you throughout the entire process, a full-service broker is usually worth the fee.

Best Fit

Limited Service (Lender Compass)

Straightforward debt on deals where you already know your numbers.

Deal Profiles

CMBS loans
Agency loans
Single tenant / net lease properties
Debt fund loans — light value-add
Life insurance company loans
"Down the fairway" bank loans — no construction, not max leverage, non-recourse

Why limited service works here Full-service brokerage fees typically run about 1% of the loan amount — on a large loan, that can mean paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for what's often just a few hours of an analyst assembling a package and fielding lender questions. A targeted, accurate list of the lenders actually offering competitive terms for your specific deal does the same job for a fraction of the cost. Even the largest CRE brokerage firms don't maintain organized, comprehensive lender data the way a focused sourcing platform does.

Better Suited For

Full-Service Brokerage

Complex structures and borrower situations that need an advocate, not just an introduction.

Capital Types

Construction loans
Subordinated capital — preferred equity / mezzanine debt
Joint-venture equity

Borrower Situations

First-time borrowers
Foreign nationals
Troubled past — criminal record, bankruptcy, foreclosure

Why full-service works here These capital types require a high level of deal structuring and hands-on attention from a capital markets expert to execute well. These borrower situations benefit from having someone represent them throughout the entire loan placement process — not just point them toward lenders.

Referral

Request a full-service referral

Think your deal fits the full-service side? We work with a trusted network of full-service mortgage brokers who specialize in exactly this kind of complexity. Share a few details and we'll make the introduction.

Name

Capital type needed

Approximate loan amount (optional)

Brief description

One database, every capital type.

Find lenders.

Capital guide.

Create your profile.

From deal profile to sourcing list.

Describe the deal

The engine filters

Get your top 20

Know the players before you run the match.

Have a deal? Run it against the full database.

Find your lenders

Sourcing list

No deal entered yet

Bank

Advantages

Disadvantages

Debt Fund

Advantages

Disadvantages

CMBS / Conduit

Advantages

Disadvantages

Life Insurance Company

Advantages

Disadvantages

Agency (Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac)

Advantages

Disadvantages

Example deal profiles

Debt Fund

Key Deal Terms

Why Debt Fund

Life Insurance Company

Key Deal Terms

Why Life Insurance Company

Bank

Key Deal Terms

Why Bank

CMBS

Key Deal Terms

Why CMBS

Is Lender Compass right for your deal?

Limited Service (Lender Compass)

Deal Profiles

Full-Service Brokerage

Capital Types

Borrower Situations

Request a full-service referral

Request received

Create Your Profile

Contact information

Loan parameters

Property types

Lending footprint

Anything else?

Profile submitted