Thanks to Your Support- Another Record Year for Beech Street

We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for the good fortune we enjoyed this year.  After setting a record our first year, we are happy to report that we more than doubled our volume in 2011, finishing the year with over $2 billion in transactions.  Although we pride ourselves on our hard work and experience, it is the relationships we have formed that are the ultimate source of our success. We thank our borrowers for the confidence they placed in us, our agency partners for their willingness to find solutions that more than met the needs of all parties, and our colleagues for the opportunities they sent our way.

Fannie Mae: An Openness to New Approaches

We passed a number of milestones this year in our relationship with Fannie Mae.  We made extensive use of our delegation authority in doubling our volume with them this year.    We also closed our first credit facility of $140 million.  We provided financing for a number of New York City portfolios, manufactured housing, student housing, and closed our first two fractured condo properties. In all these transactions, we found that Fannie Mae continues to demonstrate its agility and determination in getting deals done.  Our experience is that the agency is increasingly positive about markets throughout the country and that its standards are consistent with these views. 

Freddie Mac: Improvements that Create Opportunities for Borrowers

Freddie Mac proved a great solution for some of our larger private borrowers in 2011, especially in New York City.  This is one reason that Beech Street was able to increase our production with Freddie Mac by 300 percent in 2011. Particularly welcome were the recent enhancements that Freddie made to their early rate lock, allowing us to rate lock and close some loans in less than 30 days.  Nonetheless, we are determined to expand our collaboration with Freddie Mac substantially, and we have added staff with the skill set to make us a bigger Freddie player in 2012. 

FHA: A Great Choice for Borrowers Looking for 30-Year, Fixed-Rate Financing

Beech Street has built a strong team dedicated to bringing the advantages of FHA MAP and LEAN programs to borrowers. FHA’s MAP program is one of the few sources of funding for borrowers looking for attractive 35-year fixed-rate financing at higher leverage. MAP financing is particularly useful for those markets that have been a little slow to recover.  FHA LEAN programs are the ideal source for financing nursing homes and assisted living facilities.  Overall, our FHA pipeline is over $700 million, and we believe both MAP and LEAN business will continue to grow at Beech Street. 

The Time is Right for Agency Financing

It’s a great time for apartment owners to finance.  Declining home ownership and favorable demographics are pushing down vacancy rates, driving up rents, and raising value.  Refinancing with the GSEs makes a great choice even better.  Borrowing rates continue to be at historic lows and agency security spreads are very attractive given the flight to quality.

At Beech Street, we’re committed to helping borrowers make the most of these opportunities. We believe that there’s an ideal solution for every deal, and that it is our responsibility to find it.  This commitment to serving our customers was at the heart of our results in 2011, and will continue to guide us in 2012.