Bridging Loans – Who holds the strongest card?

Warren Buffett is often described as a thoroughbred “money man”. In nearly 60 years he has made billions of dollars of profit from his investments.

Yet when it comes to playing poker Warren Buffett is an extremely cautious individual, in spite of all his wealth and experience from his investment projects. Warren Buffett’s attitude to poker is:

“If you’ve been playing poker for 30 minutes and you still don’t know who the patsy is, then it’s you!”

(By the way, according to the Collins Dictionary a “patsy” is described as being someone that is easily cheated or victimised.)

If an experienced individual like Warren Buffett recognises that he does not hold all the cards, regardless of his past investment successes, then what should that tell a borrower about the strength of their position when they are seeking a bridging loan?

During the period when credit was easy to obtain (i.e. 1997 to 2007) it was the borrower who had the upper hand. Property investments were abundant. Financiers were eager to get a piece of the pie at whatever price. The capital markets were forever seeking suitable projects to invest in and eventually this went to every level in the economy, which meant bridging loans as well.

Anyone with an ounce of experience could secure finance during this period. Whether it be a bridging loan, mortgage, secured loan it didn’t matter, finance was relatively easy to come by. A borrower could walk into a lender, say their name, and if this carried any recognition, they would get funded. Just like magic!

The capital and money markets though, have re-awakened a vital principle for us all which is:

Money is not meant to be “easy as pie” to come by.

Excuse the apparent flippancy of the above remark but after years of conditioning, that is precisely how borrowers have come to see bridging loans and other forms of finance.The onus should be on the borrower to show that they genuinely believe in their project; that it is viable; that the returns will materialise and that a decent profit will be made. The borrower also needs to show that they are prepared to assume a reasonable level of the risk in partnership with the lender.

However, none of this can happen if the borrower believes he holds the strong cards and he has the strongest hand. But just exactly whose money is it – the Lender’s or the Borrower’s?

As daft as that question may seem, many borrowers need to realise that it is the lender that holds the strongest hand at the moment and, dare we say it, the borrower is closest to being the “patsy”. (Not literally of course but hopefully you get our drift.) The tables may well turn in future but for now that is the way it is.

So whatever type of finance you require, be it a bridging loan or similar, in the current market the borrower should be aware that it is the lender with the trump cards. Give them what they are looking for and you, as the borrower, may get the bridging loan that you are looking for.

You can access more bridging loan information by going to the Bridging Loan Direct website or by contacting one of their associated specialists in bridging loans