A free online platform for commercial real estate agents that compares interest rates on finance has been launched by Stamford Capital.
Launched last October, the online platform comr8 is free for borrowers of commercial property finance and provides insights on the entire lending market comprising banks, non-banks, and private lenders.
Comr8 provides an immediate estimate of the best interest rates in market based on a particular borrowing scenario.
This calculation is supported by raw data from Stamford Capital’s experience arranging commercial property finance with over $2 billion of loan volume settled annually, and a current pipeline value of over $4 billion.
The comr8 marketplace was originally created in response to the increasing complexity and opaqueness of the commercial property finance market: the revolving door of new lenders and the on-going competition between banks, non-banks, and private lenders, according to Stamford Capital.
“We created the new comr8 for agents platform in direct response to the demand from commercial real estate agents – they are increasingly asking us for assistance, with finance often an impediment to their sale process,” said Stamford Capital’s joint MD, Michael Hynes.
“With a comprehensive knowledge of agency and sales fundamentals, we have been able to incorporate features into comr8 that streamline and enhance the sales process.”
According to Stamford Capital, comr8 arms agents with property specific finance insights – primarily interest rates and leverage metrics – empowering them with critical finance data on-demand to help them market their listings.
Members of comr8 for agents will also be able to generate customised finance flyers to promote their listings within minutes on the platform, adding a new element to their marketing campaigns.
“Comr8 is a true finance arm of the commercial real estate agent. The access to critical finance data on-demand and the ability to generate marketing material on-the-go is simply a game-changer,” said Stamford Capital’s Joint MD Domenic Lo Surdo.
Importantly, the comr8 platform is able to distinguish between different finance criteria across a range of sub-sectors of the commercial property market, including multi-residential, commercial office, industrial, retail, hotels and leisure, health/medical and education/childcare, he noted.
According to Stamford Capital, in the last financial year, almost 60 per cent of its deals were transacted with non-banks, reflecting their increasing participation in the commercial property market and appetite for deals.
This trend highlights that unless borrowers consider the complete lender market, they run the risk of paying too much interest, the company says.