SBA Process - how many engagements recommended?

February 17, 2024

by a searcher in Chicago, IL, USA

Hello! I'm looking at using SBA to finance an acquisition. I've heard that if you work directly with the bank its best to de-risk the deal by obtaining term sheets from multiple banks. Of course you want to balance being happy with the terms and having deal closing security but also want to respect a banker's time if you don't intend to use them. What have others done to handle this?

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Reply by a lender
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA

I would be happy to talk with you on this topic. We are a Commercial Loan Brokerage shop with over 500 funding partners and over 60+ SBA funding partners. The reason we have so many funding partners is that not all lenders are the same and not all lenders will do everything allowed within the SBA 7A loan program. You definitely need to seek terms from multiple lenders on every deal. One other thing you need to be cautious of as how successful a particular SBA lender might be at getting deals done. There are plenty of lenders that will put term sheets on just about anything and then try to get it done but will not be acceptable. I have had two clients comes to us just in the last week who had this experience. Part of what we do is not only get deals to the right bank but to the right lenders within those Banks. When we do SBA 7A financing we do not need to charge the client because our lenders pay us a referral fee. If we can be of any assistance helping you find the right partners, please let me know. You can reach me here or directly at redacted Good luck with your search.

Reply by a searcher
from Harvard University in New York, NY, USA

The best way to get good terms is to have multiple offers - even better if the banks typically compete with each other (e.g. Chase and Wells or Live Oak and Byline). During the process, hint that you are talking to other banks so they know it's competitive, then allow them to make you an offer to put a line in the sand on rate and terms, and once you have all offers back, use the different term sheets to negotiate what you are hoping to get. If you plan to do more acquisitions in the future, use the potential of multiple financings and other products as an incentive. We used this strategy to get an SBA 7a 10-year term sheet for a sub 6% fixed rate.

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