Real Estate Investor Up Close

· Banks appear more willing to extend loan terms, assuming borrowers are current with their payments, because they are not anxious to take the properties back, concerned about their own capital reserve ratios. · The wave of foreclosures is likely to build through 2009 and 2010, creating deep discounts for investors with equity and good relationships with financially sound lenders. *Learn how to leverage these opportunities to restructure existing debt and understand where deals can be funded at www.ge-healthcareinsights.com

One of the big issues facing commercial real estate is the lack of financing for loans that are maturing. Property & Portfolio Research reports that $497 billion of loans from banks, insurance companies, commercial mortgage-backed securities and other sources will come due this year, with the annual totals declining only slowly to $451 billion by 2012. Of the $497 billion maturing in 2009, banks hold $365 billion or 73 percent; loans packaged into CMBS account for $36 billion or 7 percent; insurance companies hold $31 billion or 6 percent; and other sources such as private investors and government-sponsored entities hold $65 billion or 13 percent. Of the $365 billion held by banks, $237 billion are permanent loans, and $128 billion are construction loans. The lack of available financing to cover these maturing loans is pushing a steadily rising number of properties into foreclosure. In the first four months of 2009, according to Real Capital Analytics, foreclosure proceedings were