How Brokers Can Expand Into Commercial Lending

Not every client who calls a mortgage broker wants a loan on the home they live in.

One wants a rental. Another wants to buy a house, fix it up and sell it on. Then there’s the client planning a new residential build, or eyeing an apartment building with five or more units. The question usually sounds the same: “Can you help me finance this property?” The answer depends on what the client plans to do with it.

These requests don’t always fit the residential mortgage programs you typically work with. And if you can’t place them, the client may take the deal somewhere else. This guide is for mortgage brokers and loan officers who would rather keep those deals. Here’s how to spot them and match each one to the right Loanspark program.

Where the Opportunities Already Sit in Your Pipeline

Start with the property’s purpose. “I’m buying another house” can mean a rental, a renovation for resale or a new home, and each answer leads to a different conversation.

Watch for these signals:

• An investor buying a rental who wants the property’s income, not their personal income, to carry the loan. That points to Residential DSCR, which covers 1–4 unit investment properties and can close without borrower tax returns.
• A purchase that needs work before resale. Renovation and resale projects belong in Fix & Flip.
• A new residential build of up to four units. That’s Ground-Up Construction.
• A building with five or more units, a mixed-use property, or a commercial use such as retail, office or industrial. These go to the Commercial program.

Example Scenario: Two Rental Properties

Suppose an investor is weighing a four-unit rental building against a six-unit apartment building. Both are meant to produce rental income, but Loanspark places them in different programs: the four-unit property falls within Residential DSCR, the six-unit building under Commercial. The DSCR guide for brokers covers that boundary in detail.

Now add one detail: the four-unit building needs major renovation before it can produce the expected rent. If the purchase also needs renovation financing, Fix & Flip becomes the program to check, and the client’s exit plan, selling after the work or holding the property as a rental, becomes part of that conversation.

If you want the bigger picture, Loanspark CEO Michael Barnett talks it through with John Jurkovich, founder of the Mortgage Broker Builder, in From Fear to Funding: How Mortgage Brokers Can Win in Commercial Lending.

Match the Scenario to the Right Program

Property first, then the project. Loan size comes after.

Use the table as a first-pass screen. The amounts are program ranges, not what a given borrower will qualify for: credit, LTV, location and property requirements vary by program.

Where Bridge Fits

Clients may ask for a bridge loan by name. At Loanspark, a bridge loan is a short-term real estate loan offered within the Residential DSCR and Commercial programs, rather than a program of its own. Both programs offer bridge and permanent loans.

When a client asks for bridge financing, ask two questions: why they need a temporary structure, and how it gets repaid when the term ends, whether through a sale, a refinance or another source. The answers tell you whether a bridge structure fits, and which program it sits in.

Check the Location Early

Loanspark’s real estate programs are not available in Arizona, Idaho, North Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota or Vermont. Utah is also excluded, except for Ground-Up Construction.

What to Have Ready Before the First Conversation

A scenario with gaps comes back with questions. You don’t need a full underwriting package to start, but you do need enough to show what the deal is.

• Describe the property. Address, property type, unit count, occupancy, estimated value, and whether it’s a purchase or a refinance.
• Separate actual income from projected income. For rental or commercial properties, a rent roll and operating expenses say more than a headline rent figure. Keep the rent collected today apart from what the client expects after renovation or lease-up.
• Explain the work. If the client plans to renovate or build, note the scope of work, the budget and how far the project has progressed. A missing estimate is easier to flag now than halfway through the conversation.
• Ask about the borrower and the exit. Cover the credit profile, relevant property experience, the funds the borrower plans to contribute, and how the loan gets repaid: a sale after renovation, rental income from a hold, or a refinance. Note any contract deadlines too.

For Residential DSCR, the pricing conversation starts with five core details: property address and value, vacancy status, rent roll or gross income and expenses, borrower experience, and credit score. Fix & Flip, Ground-Up and Commercial have their own requirements, so treat the points above as preparation, not a complete file.

Run the numbers before the call. The DSCR Calculator models debt coverage, the Closing Cost Calculator estimates cash needed at closing, and the Commercial Loan Calculator tests repayment assumptions. They produce estimates rather than approvals or quotes, but a quick check can spare you a client conversation built on the wrong numbers.

How Loanspark Works With Mortgage Brokers

For Residential DSCR, Fix & Flip, Ground-Up and Commercial, Loanspark underwrites and funds the loan. In practice, that means you can offer four types of real estate financing through one partner, without taking on the underwriting yourself.

Deals go through a dedicated partner portal, where you submit and track your scenarios, and you stay client-facing throughout the process. The relationship you built on a client’s home loan doesn’t get handed off when their next deal is a rental or a renovation.

The front end of the deal is still yours, though. You’re the one who hears “I’m buying another house” and knows which question to ask next.

Start With One Deal

Pick a deal that’s already on your desk and write down three things: what the client wants to buy or build, what they plan to do with it, and how much they need to borrow. Then take a look at how Loanspark’s broker partnership works.

Explore the Broker Program