One of the more frustrating aspects of borrowing money, particularly HUD funds, rests with the queue. New borrowers must start at the end of the queue and work their way through a sometimes confusing and complex maze. It increases wait times and makes it difficult to get timely answers to questions, and even more burdensome to problem-solve. However, you won’t get stuck in a long queue with Cambridge, says Cambridge Realty Capital President Andrew L. Erkes. Being a small, boutique-style company with a narrow specialty, “Cambridge is able to deliver a much more efficient process for obtaining funding.”
In a conventional institution, new requests and applications are assigned to an entry-level agent. The agent helps the borrower gather documentation and fill out the application. The agent has no authority and sometimes doesn’t have the skills or insights to anticipate all of what the client must bring to the table in order to increase the odds of an efficient process and successful outcome.
The application will then get passed up the chain of authority until it reaches the decision maker, the person, or, sometimes a committee, with the power to grant or deny funding. This process alone can add weeks, or more, to your overall wait.
That’s why borrowers find it so refreshing to work with Cambridge. Being a smaller firm, the borrower’s application goes right to the decision-maker. There is no middle management, and your application doesn’t have to be reviewed by a committee.
Lawrence Yablong, President of LaSalle Realty of Chicago, and Denny Howell, CEO of Howell Investment Finance of Ames, Iowa, both had similar reactions to working with Cambridge. Said Yablong, “What we’ve noticed is that other lenders tend to be more bureaucratic and respond to our needs by committee. With Cambridge, there is mutual respect and straightforward answers to any questions we might have.” Howell commented “[What Cambridge] doesn’t do is waste anyone’s time. Cambridge is not a large company that takes forever to get an answer from someone in another office across the country. With Cambridge, I often hear back the same day or the next day and quite often, I’m talking directly to the decision-maker.”
