The Relationship Behind the Capital
The simplest, most profitable close was to fund the full $3.75M — the bigger the loan, the bigger our fee. Instead, 818's principal opened a direct relationship with the county's housing program and worked the deal before the close, so $1.0M of the stack stayed with the county at a 1% rate and 818 funded a smaller $2.75M senior alongside it. A smaller loan for us. A better stack for the borrower. That's the relationship behind the capital.
Set to fund $3.75M — we chose to fund less.
The financing 818 structured was set to fund the full $3.75M; the bigger the loan, the bigger our revenue. But before the close, our principal built a direct relationship with the county's housing-finance program and reworked the stack: the county keeps $1.0M in the deal at a 1% rate, and 818 places a $2.75M senior bridge with a REIT capital partner alongside it. We wrote a smaller loan on purpose — because it was the right stack for the borrower.
Illustrative. Annual interest on the $1.0M tranche at a preserved 1% rate versus refinancing the same $1.0M at typical ~10% short-term bridge pricing. Not an offer or alternative quote.
Most lenders route around the county. Our principal called them.
A county housing-finance program in the capital stack — with its regulatory agreement and consent requirements — is exactly what pushes most lenders to demand a full payoff. 818's principal did the opposite: opened a direct relationship with the county before the close. Because that relationship was already there, working the $1.0M into the deal at 1% was straightforward — not a fire drill at the closing table.
Not an associate, not after the fact — 818's principal opened the line to the county's housing program directly, and early, while there was still room to restructure.
With the county already at the table, the subordination that keeps the $1.0M at 1% behind the new senior debt came together before the close — not in spite of it.
The program's regulatory agreement was re-executed and properly recorded at closing — tightening the file for the borrower and the permanent lender to come.
$2.75M senior, $1.0M county at 1% — $3.75M in total capital.
818 placed the senior bridge with a REIT capital partner; the county loan is the borrower's own below-market financing, preserved. The two together fund the deal — and the breakdown is shown in full so the total is never mistaken for a single loan.
The hard part wasn't the loan. It was keeping the cheap money.
Anyone can pay a mortgage off. Keeping a county loan alive through a refinance — subordination, consent, a regulatory agreement re-recorded — is the work most lenders won't take on. 818 sequenced it so the close never slipped.
We could have written the bigger loan and booked the bigger fee. Instead we asked what the borrower should keep — and built the stack around that answer. Whether it's your first deal or your tenth, that's the difference between a lender running your file and a partner sitting on your side of the table.
They keep coming back.
The most honest measure of “partner, not just a lender” isn't a testimonial — it's what a borrower does next. This operator has brought 818 a series of deals, and this one was structured with the next one already in mind. People don't do that because a rate was a tenth of a point better. They do it because someone kept their cheapest dollar in the deal.
Bring us the deal everyone else routes around.
Figures reflect a single funded transaction; individual results vary. The senior bridge was arranged with a capital partner. The $1.0M county loan is the borrower's pre-existing county housing-finance financing at a 1% interest rate, preserved via subordination at closing — not a rate offered by 818. The ~$90K/yr and related figures are illustrative comparisons against typical short-term bridge pricing and are not actual alternative quotes. The permanent take-out is in process and not yet closed. Names, identifying details, the borrower, the capital partner, and the exact street address have been withheld for privacy; market shown at city level only. Not a commitment to lend; all financing subject to credit approval, underwriting, and property qualification. © 818 Capital Partners.