Happy New Year and Thank You…

Yesterday was my last day in the office for this year. I decided to spend some extra time with my family, so we’re spending the weekend on the Florida Gulf Coast for a little rest and relaxation to celebrate the New Year. We’re headed to the Ringling Circus Museum later today, so I wanted to type this quick message to you before the day gets away from me (I’m sure to get sidetracked by clown and trapeze artist history).

I simply want to sincerely wish you a Happy New Year and a relaxing holiday weekend. You deserve it.

Go to www.504blog.com to read the rest of my New Year’s message (which I hope is some encouragement to you), and to read about our no-corporate-holiday-card tradition.

Here’s to a wonderfully Happy New Year. See you in 2012!

Dedicated to Your Continued Success,

Chris

P.S. I truly appreciate the opportunity to interact with you and hopefully provide some valuable help when it comes to smarter commercial real estate financing. Please share this with someone you know who’s interested in owning their commercial property, or someone who could use a bit of encouragement heading into the New Year.

Santa Claus and Coca-Cola…

True or False: Santa’s red-and-white garb was invented by Coca-Cola for their advertising in the 1930s.

I was reading an article about the recent white Coke cans — the ones with polar bears on them. Coke abruptly discontinued them after lots of people mistook them for Diet Coke and complained (they were all surprised by how good the Diet Coke tasted!).

Anyway, this article stated that it was silly for Coke to abandon their traditional red-and-white can colors because, after all, their advertising was responsible for establishing Santa’s red-and-white getup. This is something I wasn’t aware of, so I did a little research.

Go to www.504blog.com to find out the truth, and to read a special holiday message from yours truly.

Dedicated to Your Continued Success and a Wonderful Holiday Season,

Chris

P.S. If you happen to know a business owner looking to purchase or refinance commercial property…well, you know who would really appreciate an introduction!

Thanksgiving Pancakery…

To say that we enjoy the Holiday Season here at Mercantile is an understatement. I guess it’s one of the joys of working with people who we actually care about — we’re more like family than just coworkers.

Better Than Angry Birds…

I’m proud to announce that we’ll soon be launching our first iPhone app! While it may not be quite as amusing as Angry Birds, I think you’ll find it MUCH more useful.

The primary function of our app is a loan calculator for owner-occupied commercial real estate. I know there are already a few 504 loan calculator apps out there, but ours will be very different and (we believe) much more helpful. In addition to doing the loan calculation, our app will provide loan comparisons, allow you to save the results, and also have direct access to additional resources. Our goal is to give you (that’s right — no charge) a tool that will help you show your Clients how affordable a particular property and loan really are for them.

Weird Friday News… Happy Halloween

Halloween is Monday, and we’re already gearing up for it around the office. I have a quick message for you on this Friday afternoon — just three things: Halloween (obviously); our record-high funding volume; and your last chance to register for my 504 refi webinar next week.

Watch the video at www.504blog.com to get all the details (and find out why my face has a goatee)!

Dedicated to Your Continued Success,

Chris

P.S. If you know a small business owner who should consider owning or refinancing their owner-occupied commercial property, call me at 1-866-622-4504 or email me at ChrisHurn@MercantileCC.com right away. It may be difficult, even SCARY to find commercial financing from ordinary lenders, but we’re having a record year and are here to help. Let me know how we can make someone’s wealth-creation dreams come true. And…Happy early Halloween!

BIG NEWS About the SBA 504 Refinance Program…

Since the Small Business Jobs & Credit Act was passed a year ago, we’ve been able to finally use SBA 504 loans to refinance commercial property. Fortunately, a few hundred business owners have been able to avail themselves of this program to get control over their real estate expenses with the long-term, fixed-rate financing that a 504 loan provides. But that’s about to change…

The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act One Year Later…

Why America’s Small Businesses Need YOUR Help!

It’s officially been one year since the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 was passed into law. While some good has come from it, there are a few things that have been pretty ineffective so far. The two things that frustrate me the most are the First Mortgage Lien Pool (FMLP) Program and the SBA 504 Loan Refi Program.

Commercial Real Estate Financing for Small Businesses is on the Rise…

Our office is buzzing today after being closed for the Labor Day holiday. I hope you had a nice, long weekend and were able to enjoy an extra day away from the office. I’m pretty sure everyone here at Mercantile spent yesterday relaxing and recharging since we just finished the most productive month ever for our company.

   

Wasteful Government

Duplication at the SBA and What to Do About It…

You and I both know that the SBA is a helpful resource for small businesses. Many, many business owners have gotten a financial “hand-up” from this government agency, and these small businesses have long been the “backbone of the American economy” (pardon the cliché, but it’s true).

Foot-dragging at the SBA

Small Business Owners Still Waiting Hurting

I've been a staunch supporter of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for years. I believe that this government agency has done quite a lot of good for small business owners and our economy, and it continues to do good in many respects.

Recently, however, I (along with lots of small business owners and lenders nationwide) have become very frustrated with the progress of the SBA 504 Refinance Program. This is a program I’ve been arguing for since 2004, when I was first quoted in the Wall Street Journal about it, because it has the potential to help small business owners and our overall economy during these “interesting” economic times. Despite the benefits provided by 504 Refis, the SBA has been slow to stipulate all the regulations and instructions for using it…and it continues to place tight restrictions on which businesses can qualify for these refinances.

The Economic “Recovery” is Stalled

The economy is “officially” in recovery mode, and has been for a while, but we all know that things are still tough throughout our economy. Depending on what you read from various news outlets, it’s getting more and more difficult to understand what’s really going on. So how are small businesses supposed to react to confusing and contradictory new reports?

Discussing SBA Loans at the Florida Statewide Lenders Conference

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Bob Coleman at the Florida Statewide Lenders Conference yesterday to talk about the latest and most relevant issues facing small business owners these days. If you don’t know Bob, he’s a great guy and very influential in the world of small business lending.

Exposed: The Dirty Little Secret of Small Business Lending

When a small business owner wants to buy commercial property for his or her business, there are several financing options to choose from. This probably isn’t news to you, especially if you’ve been reading this blog for a while now. What’s surprising, though, is how often many lenders gloss over (or omit altogether) certain loan options and focus only on ones that are more beneficial for the bank (or non-bank lending institution).

Happy 2011 from the SBA 504 Experts

Our First Video Blog of the New Year

As you may have read in my last blog post, MCC had a very successful 2010. We have some great people working for us, and they really outdid themselves last year. But we also have our Clients and Referral Partners to thank for our success. I’d really like to thank you face to face, so go to www.504blog.com to watch my first video blog post of 2011.

Thanks again, and make it a great 2011!

Chris

P.S. Pay close attention at about 1:40 in the video, when I completely forget our toll-free phone number. We probably should have edited it out, but I thought you it might make you laugh.

P.P.S. Let me know if you or someone you know is interested in owning commercial property. Right now is a great time to make the move from renting to owning, or to acquire a larger facility to accommodate future growth. Call me at 1-866-622-4504 (I remembered it this time!) or email me at ChrisHurn@MercantileCC.com. I look forward to hearing from you!