By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

In the flood of information we try to process on a daily basis, it’s easy to miss something that can be genuinely useful. If you work with commercial property owners, you might have missed the Small Business Administration’s announcement around this time last year that it’s making its Section 504 loan program available for refinancing commercial mortgages on a temporary basis.

The move was a response to the problems property owners were having refinancing their mortgage loan before the loan term ended.

It took SBA several months to actually come out with its program rules, but it finally did so, in October of last year, so the program is now up and running.

What’s attractive about the program is the new loan term can be fairly long and borrowers can use a portion of the proceeds as working capital. And since the loans are backed by the federal government, rates should be fairly reasonable, although you can expect to fill out more forms. The other point to note is that the program expires around the same time as the end of the federal fiscal year (end of September), although that could change if Congress decides to extend it. Continue reading »