Conduit/CMBS Loans

Conduit loans are commercial mortgages that are pooled together and sold to investors on a secondary market. Because these loans are securitized, they behave a little differently than a traditional commercial real estate loan. The main differences relate to prepayment and loan administration as well as the flexibility you have in negotiating loan terms. The minimum amount that most conduit lenders will finance is between $1 million and $3 million. Most conduit loans have terms of five to 10 years with 20- to 30-year amortization periods. This means that each monthly payment will be the same until a final balloon payment at the end of the loan term. Interest rates on conduit loans are normally fixed and lower than rates on a traditional mortgage.