You are receiving this letter because you are one of my Spartans - my top-producing brokers and investor clients - of whom I am allowed to have 300. Removal instructions are below. Today we'll talk about the Next Big Thing in commercial real estate finance - blanket loans on portfolios of rental homes. And, of course, like always, we have lots of cute, clean jokes, several funny pics, and an interesting video for you.

Joke Du Jour

A man was driving down the road and ran out of gas. Just at that moment, a bee flew in his window. The bee asked, "What seems to be the problem?" "I'm out of gas," the man replied. The bee told the man to wait right there and flew away. Minutes later, the man watched as an entire swarm of bees flew to his car and into his gas tank. After a few minutes, the bees flew out. "Try it now," said one bee. The man turned the ignition key and the car started right up. "Wow!" the man exclaimed, "what did you put in my gas tank?" The bee answered, "BP!”

Quick, Kids, Into the Basement

Private Money Commercial Loans Nationwide From $100,000 to $3.5MM

Is your client's commercial property partially vacant? Do you need a lender who will allow the seller to carry back a second mortgage? Does your client have a balloon payment coming due on his commercial property? Has your bank offered him a discounted pay-off? Does your borrower have less-than-stellar credit? Is your client's company losing money? We make slightly scratched-and-dented commercial loans.

Our hot, new product is a blanket loan against a portfolio of rental homes. Rental homes? Yup, as long as there are at least five homes or units, we consider this to be a commercial loan. We even offer a partial release clause. This loan is ideal for speculators.

Here is our latest rate sheet.

Blackburne & Sons is looking for commercial real estate loans that are not quite clean enough for a bank. Please click here to submit a hard money commercial loan or call me, Tom Blackburne, at (574) 210-6686.

Computer Problem Joke

I was having trouble with my computer, so I called Rick, the computer guy, to come over. Rick clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem. He gave me a bill for a minimum service call.

As he was walking away, I called after him, "So what was wrong?" He replied, "It was an ID ten T error." I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired, "An ID ten T error? What's that ... in case I need to fix it again?"

The computer guy grinned.... "Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?" "No," I replied. "Write it down," he said, "and I think you'll figure it out." So I wrote it out ...... I D 1 0 T

Loans on Portfolios of Rental Homes

During the depth of the Great Recession, after residential real estate had fallen by 45%, some smart investors - including the giant opportunity fund, Blackstone - figured out that they could buy these cheap houses for all cash, fix them up a little bit, and rent them out for an 8% to 10% cash-on-cash return

Suddenly foreclosed homes started disappearing from the market, as investors quickly snapped them up. Home ownership in America dropped from 67% to just 63%, and a lot of smart investors amassed large portfolios of rental homes.

Today, the hot, new product in commercial real estate finance is a blanket commercial loan against 5 or more rental homes. Blackburne & Sons did four of these loans this month, and other lenders are now entering this market.

Be on the lookout for opportunities like this!

Bicycle Joke

Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?" The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want." The second engineer nodded approvingly, "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit.”

Preferred Equity

If an investor wants to buy a leased commercial property, banks today will seldom lend more 58% to 62% LTV. Your buyer only wants to put down 25% of the purchase price

Quick, easy preferred equity from Blackburne & Sons fills in the missing piece of the capital stack. For more information, please call Tom Blackburne at (574) 210-6686.

Gas Joke II

When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motorhome parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he had bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find an ill man curled up next to a motorhome near spilled sewage. A police spokesperson said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his hose into the motorhome's sewage tank by mistake. When he sucked on the hose to create suction ... The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

Falcon Nesting in a Tree

New Apartment Program for "A" Deals

Because we have been in the commercial mortgage business for over 33 years, and because we own CommercialMortgage.com, Blackburne & Sons has been allowed to join just five other mortgage bankers to offer an incredible new apartment loan program for "A" quality deals. These loans close in our name and are sold to an institutional investor which purchased almost $400 million in apartment loans last year.

The rate is adjusted according to the desirability of the property and the area, but it starts at 3.87% and 1 point for a 30-year fully-amortized loan. For more details, please call Tom Blackburne at (574) 210-6686.

Boring Joke

"In an interview, Neil Patrick Harris said he'd never want to do a late-night talk show because he thinks it would be boring doing the same thing every day. And if you want to see more of Neil, you can check him out in that play where he says literally the exact same thing every day." -- Jimmy Fallon

Too Busy to Broker Commercial Loans to Us? Why Not Just Refer Them Instead? We Make It Easy!

We once paid a $21,250 referral fee. Here is our referral fee program.

Back to the 1950's Video

Take a trip in time back to the Fifties and relive the culture, the icons, and the everyday life that made it a very special time. Also, unfortunately, also there is a very brief look at the racism and McCarthyism that marked the era.

On a Personal Note

Since it's inception, I have been a huge fan of the ABC show Shark Tank.  If you are not familiar with the show, aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business or product to a group of potential investors, called "sharks", seeking an investment deal.  From the simple question of the last 12 months sales number to the always tricky and telling "customer acquisition cost" question, each entrepreneur is drilled on the spot, hence the name "Shark Tank."  While most people crumble under the pressure and fail to make a deal, one will occasionally survive the "Shark Tank" and walk away with money needed to make their dreams come true.  

After watching close to every episode, I have learned that there is a single common element to each deal.  Despite the drastic range in products and business types, they always fulfill a specific need in the market. Here at Blackburne & Sons, we have several loan products that fulfill a need in the commercial mortgage market.  We offer small balance preferred equity, 30/15 year private money loans and 1-point bridge loans, all of which can help you and your borrower get the money they need to make their dreams come true (and we are much nicer than the Shark Tank...) Please call me with any questions!

Don't Forget About C-Loans.com

We have a whole new crop of hungry commercial lenders on C-Loans, so if you have a commercial loan you're trying to place, it takes just four minutes to submit your deal to 750 commercial lenders. And remember, C-Loans.com is free!

Moose and Bears in Anchorage, Alaska

This is George III, the old man, now writing to you. I recently returned from a missions trip to Greece, where I had accompanied my 15-year-old daughter, Jordan, and 14 of her classmates from Culver Academies. During their time at this fancy boarding school, I let each one of my kids take one international trip. I took George IV to China one year, and I took Tom to New Zealand and Australia two years later.

Anyway, I met this nice woman, Kim, on this school trip, who was the mother of one of the other students. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska, where her husband is a pilot of Fed Ex.

Kim was telling me about moose attacks. These animals are fearless. They'll walk right into town and even right onto school grounds. The school has to immediately rush the kids inside. You dare not approach them because a male moose weighs between 800 and 1,500 pounds

And a moose will attack you! They attack - not with their antlers - but rather by stomping you to death with their front hooves. There was a moose attack yesterday in Colorado yesterday that injured two women. Kim sent me an email today decribing how a brown bear killed a woman jogger in Anchorage yesterday as well.

Unlike Anchorage, in the cornfields of Plymouth, Indiana there are no predators or dangerous animals - other than coyotes, which will eat your cats and dogs. But this last winter was so cold that it was warmer in Anchorage than it was Plymouth on most days.

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Contact Information

4811 Chippendale Drive, Suite 101, Sacramento, CA 95841 telephone: (574) 210-6686 * Fax: (916) 338-2328
Real Estate Broker -- California Bureau of Real Estate -- License Number 01330173