Firm Offers Financing Tips Following Increase in Church Construction Loans
Fredericksburg, VA (PRWEB) January 08, 2014 -- Griffin Capital Funding has assisted thousands of churches over the past 15 years. With that experience, they are able to provide insight to churches on the essential step of planning to apply for financing, which is a piece of the puzzle often forgotten.
There are a number of reasons for the increase in the amount of construction loans Griffin Capital Funding is seeing. “First, there is pent up demand for new facilities. Over the prior few years churches were worried about the economy and reluctant to make any large purchases, but as the economy improves we are seeing churches becoming more willing to start on capital improvement projects. Another reason is that rates are still near historic lows so some churches are looking to start projects and take advantage of the low interest rate environment,” stated John Berardino, Sr. Vice President of Griffin Capital Funding.
The most important step a church should take before they spend any money is to find out how much they qualify to borrow. This can be done free of charge without the need for any plans and permits. “One of the most prevalent mistakes we see churches make regarding church construction is that they spend a ton of money on plans, permits, materials and construction before they have a loan approved. A church should find out how much money they can afford to borrow before they have plans drawn or start spending any money on the construction project. It is not uncommon for a church to have spent $50,000 or more on plans, and another $200,000 or more on permitting and purchasing materials before they apply for financing only to find out that they cannot afford to build what the architect has designed. Find out what you can afford to borrow before you start any type of construction," suggests Berardino.
Another important insight is to get the loan approved before any construction has begun; it is much more difficult to get a loan approved once construction has begun than it is to do before the construction has started. “Put most simply, we do a lot of loans for churches that are midway through a construction project and need to borrow funds to finish. Even though we do a lot of these, it would be much easier for the church and for us if they had come to us before the project started.” Many lenders will simply decline a construction loan that has begun because they do not want to deal with the lien waivers, title and contractor issues that often come up with projects that have already begun.
Those interested in learning more about financing for church properties, can visit http://www.churchloans.net or call John Berardino at 540-736-7360 for more information.
About Griffin Capital Funding
Griffin Capital Funding has been serving churches for 15 years by providing church loans for the refinance, construction, renovation and purchase of almost any type of church building, (churchloans.net). On average Griffin provides over $100,000,000 a year in loans to churches. Griffin is one of the most well-known and respected church financing companies in the country. Griffin also offers loans to for profit businesses through the SBA 7A and 504 loan programs as well as offering hard money loans.
Brad Caricofe, Advanced Web, LLC, http://advancedwebllc.com, +1 (703) 490-5595, [email protected]
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