Skyline is a full-service loan brokerage; we are not a direct lender. Banks are direct lenders that lend from their deposits directly to their customers. Banks carry a limited number of conventional loan products like term loans and lines of credit.

Skyline partners with dozens of private lenders who are ready to lend to business and commercial real estate borrowers like you. Because we partner with so many lenders, we offer numerous financing alternatives to multiply your funding opportunities with the right type of capital.

Banks are also highly regulated to ensure the safety of depositor’s money. As a result, banks are conservative in their lending practices and have very tight credit criteria, especially for commercial loans. Skyline’s lenders are non-depository lenders. They are lending privately sourced money, so they have far more choice in setting their credit criteria, and all lenders are unique. A turndown for one, may be just the deal another is looking for. Tapping into Skyline’s deep lending network and product line multiplies your potential to get funded.

Skyline is paid by the lenders in our network, so it costs you (the client) nothing. Since most of our lenders are relatively small and not set up to be retail lenders, they rely on brokers like Skyline to partner with them on finding and putting together projects. In a sense, Skyline is their customer.

Skyline’s mission is to partner with you and your bank to fill in financing gaps by providing access to a strong and diverse lender network, and extremely broad financing product line. There are many good deals, especially with small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) that go unfunded every year.

One study found that only about 37% of SMBs apply for financing, and of those about 80% are denied. Many of these deals are fundamentally good deals but are turned down for various reasons. Skyline will partner with you and your bank to close this financing gap.

Most bankers like to do as many deals as they can and are supportive of the business community, entrepreneurs, and real estate developers. However, they simply must be careful with their lending to protect deposits and remain compliant with regulators. If Skyline partners with you and your bank and funds a deal that they cannot, that’s a win-win outcome. Since our lenders are non-depository, you can deposit the loan proceeds with your bank without any disruption to the relationship. You get funded, and your bank keeps its customer and gains new deposits.

Skyline’s lenders are all experts with the financing products they use. They approve hundreds of loans every year. Their processes are streamlined, and they move from pre-approval to closing very quickly. They also don’t have to deal with the red tape and bureaucracy that community banks do, which gives them another significant edge in terms of speed. Finally, Skyline provides you with consulting and support throughout the process to set you in the right direction and keep everything on track.

Most of the lenders in our network are non-bank private lending organizations. Most are relatively small in terms of staffing but have substantial funding to lend. Almost all of them are very niche oriented, focusing on one product or product line. This focus leads to a detailed understanding of the products they carry and how they can be used to fund deals.

These lenders may be capitalized by private equity, insurance companies, pension funds,  investment groups, or some other private capital group. There are also several major banks that have spun off divisions to operate specifically in this space of the lending market. There is no shortage of lenders in this space. Skyline has vetted many of them to arrive at a preferred few in each category.

These private lenders are capitalized with private funds rather than deposits, and therefore are not limited by standard bank credit criteria. They have more latitude to approve loans, and they are typically able to process loans on a quicker timeline. Many carry alternative lending products that are typically not available through a commercial bank. This creates another opportunity to fund projects that may not otherwise be bankable, or to source the appropriate type of capital for a specific need.

Commercial loan brokering has been around for decades. It has grown in recent years as the amount of private money to fund private lenders has increased, and bank credit standards have become tighter and more regulated. In general, as markets mature, they tend to fragment. This is certainly true with commercial lending with the advent of FinTech (Financial Technology enabling online lending) and the growth in commercial loan brokering. Commercial loan brokering is a well-established niche within the commercial lending industry.