commercial-loan Books

We bought a copy for our project finance/infrastructure finance dept. at our bank. It's excellent, especially the due diligence checklist

This is the one project finance book I keep at my desk and take with me on business trips. It is invaluable. The book is filled with important information I need when working on a project finance deal (sample contract provisions; explanations of currency risks; financing sources; World Bank lending characteristics; political risk insurance; and on and on. The author manages to do the impossible--he combines legal and business aspects of project finance in an easy-to-use format, from a real life perspective. Each part of a project finance deal is addressed in separate chapters.

My only criicism is that the author uses the European-favored expansive table of contents, rather than a detailed index. Yet, the book is so well organized that the information is easy to find.

It's clearly the best legal and business book on project finance available. It gives me, as a business person, a real edge.

A well thought out treatise on project finance covering not just the legal issues, but also from a commercial perspective. One of the better books on the subject

Reviewed by Robert T. Koveleskie, founder VentureDirectory.com

I have been in the capital raising business for many years and I strongly recommend this book for anyone attempting to raise capital for the first time. I also recommend it for financial planners, bankers, attorneys and accountants in case a client is interested in raising capital for a venture. This book is very direct. It covers well the type of money available for start-up businesses and how to go about getting it. A few important things it points out is that you must have a sound business in place if you expect to get the professional money people interested and you must have a professional business plan that tells them all about your business. Raising capital is no different than any other business. It takes a good product, good management in place, and a lot of long hours contacting the right people and selling hard. Finally, after you raise the money, the real hard work begins, for you have expectations of your investors to make good.

START UP FINANCING discusses the various sources of startup money for a new or growing business. It gives the pros and cons of each type of financing. It also discusses in some detail what each type of investor or lender is looking for in making a decision to become involved with your company Several very important issues that every entrepreneur must keep in mind are the following: 1. Your strategy for the business must be sound to have a hope of raising money from any source. You must have identified and described the unique features of your product or service and the existence of a market for this product or service. In the words of Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics--"Money isn't everything you also have to know what you are doing." 2. You must remember that in raising financing for your business your marketing skills may be just as important as your entrepreneurial skills. Whether you like it or not you must be a pretty good sales person. And, you have only several t

I would just like to read other readers reviews. I have read and translated in Russian the "Effective Loan Management" by Ed Morsman which I found excellent, and I am also would like to do the same with this book.

I was really impressed by this discussion of basically a snapshot of banking in small community. The description of market day loans and three day interest free loans, not to mention the signatures and signet rings of slaves as witnesses to contracts. This was a very enlightening piece of scholarship based on very careful analysis of the evidence.

Borrowing To Build Your Business: Getting Your Banker To Say "Yes" by small business advisor George M. Dawson (University of Texas at San Antonio Small Business Development Center) is a straightforward, "reader friendly" guide to convincing any bank loan officer to solidly back an entrepreneurial or corporate enterprise. From selecting the best possible banker, to being aware of the pressures on banks and bankers, to the test of the five big C's (Character, Capacity, Condition, Collateral, and Capital), Borrowing To Build Your Business is a first-rate and highly recommended primer of solid, basic, practical advice that every business owner should know before seeking to secure financial assistance from a lending institution.

This book is an excellent introduction to the Commercial mortgage industry. It is up to date and the author makes an effort to state the distinction between the residential and commercial mortgage business. He also touches on important and relevant topics such as the sub prime crises and how it effected the mortgage industry and why people should not be afraid to get involved now, as there is ample opportunity. This is for the layperson, and he describes the nuts and bolts of the industry very well. Gineris also makes it easy for the reader to understand the vocabulary and concepts so inherent to the industry. He gets into lending, borrowing, commercial mortgage-backed securities, etc. Albeit, a strong income potential can be realized in a relatively short period of time (comparatively speaking), this is not a get rich quick scheme. But for those who work hard, smart and take this business seriously, one can make physician level income and have a lot of fun doing it.

As I am a loan officer, I think that this book is a masterpiece. Eespecially, The book covers the naked analysis of an unsucessful corporate's financial statement. I'd like to call it Corporate Anatomy!

The VAST majority of the 5 or 4 star reviews are by people with only ONE review - this book. Hmmm... as another not so generous reviewer said, this is a good reference book for terms, not a good one for deal structuring - which is a fundamental part of the whole of process.....

The book is OK but I was looking more for examples of structured deals and how to do deals. This is more of an encyclopedia of commercial real estate terms. If this is what you're looking for great. If you're looking for how to do deals and how to put deals together this ain't it.

This is a great little book that covers the basics from an experienced insider... It has a broad overview of the industry, discusses the basics of the different things an investor needs to know, some great tips on how things work and enough detail to get a new investor going successfully.

I have invested for a while and have found the book valuable in filling some of the information that I have guessed about... I wish I had this book before starting. Thanks to the author for answering my questions in a clear and concise manner.

Finally, a book that is written for those not necessarily experts in the field. The author makes all the applications very understandable. Well written, clear and concise. Thank you Mr. Morse.

This book explains commercial real estate very well. It is an easy read but is very informative. I really like all of the calculations it gives in regards to the time value of money. Very helpful!!

Though one of the co-authors is a friend of mine, I like to think that is not the reason I found this book so impressive. The CCAF (Comprehensive Credit Assessment Framework), that Abrahams and Zhang lay out, offers an excellent paradigm for systematizing the business rules that lenders use for augmenting credit scores in the decisioning process.

What I found particularly compelling was the case for using this tool as a supplement to the rating agencies' grades, as we begin to think about what a revamped securitization market might look like. The CCAF, arguably, reduces the opacity associated with these instruments, thereby promoting incentive compatibility between originators and investors.

Lastly, this book is written in a non-technical style, with numerous intuitive examples, that would appeal to the layman reader.

The authors of Credit Risk Assessment: The New Lending System for Borrowers, Lenders, and Investors have accomplished something thought by many to be nearly impossible - they have made our current economic mess understandable both in terms of causes and effects. And with the complexity associated with the underlying economic theory and related financial machinations this is no small feat.
I found their account of the circumstances and underlying weaknesses in our financial system that lead to the current morass to be very enlightening and foundational to my own desire to develop a better understanding of this system - especially related the checks and balances or lack thereof. While I lack the technical expertise and historical context to perhaps fully appreciate some of the material I nonetheless found the book to be extremely accessible overall. I attribute this in part to the clear, concise style used by the authors. What made the book particularly insightful for me was the fact that I like many others watched their description of the problems and resulting consequences play out before my own eyes as I witnessed the failure of one of the fastest growing S & L's in our region of the country due to questionable real estate lending practices and lack of risk management by what was otherwise a relatively conservative financial institution.
Finally, what makes this book different from others is that the authors prescribe a solution to at least a large part of the problem - a new, more comprehensive system for measuring, exposing, and ultimately mitigating systemic risk as opposed to institutional risk.
My only quibble with the book was that it was at times somewhat redundant. However, this may have been by design in that the authors were trying to reinforce the ideas, concepts and lessons. Otherwise, Credit Risk Assessment is the best book on the topic that I have read to date.

This book was OK. However, since it is well written and organized I'll bump it up to a 4-star rating. But I cannot say there is anything special about this book. And when a 306-page book is priced retail at $49.95 there really should be something special about it. Included are the following six chapters:

1. Unpacking the financial crisis
2. The case for a comprehensive credit assessment framework
3. The lender & the underwriting gap
4. The borrower & loan affordability
5. The investor & financial innovation
6. Crisis intervention & prevention

America is going through some tough times these days. And much of the problem stems from a era when the government encouraged its inhabitants to leverage themselves to the hilt so they could keep spending and boost up the consumer-based economy. Sadly, the government did not just encourage people to borrow to the hilt if they could afford to do so. It encouraged lenders to lend even when borrowers were not worthy of being lent to.

This book goes into this problem. But I disagree that the country's problems are a result of "incomplete" credit risk assessment. I believe the problems are a result of "lax" credit risk assessment. It's one thing to be stupid or dumb. It's a totally different thing to be corrupt and greedy. In my humble opinion this book argues the former. And I think it should have argued more of the latter.

However, the book does cover a lot of ground. And if someone wants to be better educated on the issues that go into credit risk assessments and how to make them "complete" or "rigid," then getting a copy of this book from your public library might be a smart move. I have trouble recommending you purchase a copy because I find the price to admission to be kind of steep for what you get. 4 stars!

Credit Risk Assessment: The New Lending System for Borrowers, Lenders, and Inves

Credit Risk Assessment, the new book, by Clark Abrahams and Mingyuan Zhang is a must read for anyone who desires to learn about the recent financial crisis, the various causes and effects. This book provides a clear and exceptionally well-written portrayal of the crisis from the perspective of investors, lenders, borrowers and the government. What is most remarkable about this book is the manner in which it explains very complex financial events in readily understandable terms that are accessible to virtually anyone willing to invest a few hours in a most interesting read and analysis.

The authors identify the primary causes for the current financial crisis and the perfect storm of events that precipitated the worst financial crisis since the great depression. The authors go on to explain how the process of loan underwriting, inclusive of principal-agent problems and adverse incentives, worked to create an improper assessment of the risks inherent in many financial instruments. They call for a comprehensive risk assessment framework that would provide all parties with a degree of transparency going forward that would greatly reduce the probability of another such pronounced downturn.

There are no shortage of books on the recent financial crisis, but one would be hard-pressed to find a treatment as comprehensive as this one and yet written in terms that are readily understandable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and commend the authors on their achievement.

Credit Risk Assessment is a book for the masses! For the banking executive the book is an enhanced risk assessment tool for mitigating risk in the mortgage origination business. However, for the layperson this book is a great source for learning about and understanding the intricacies of mortgage lending. In simple terms, the authors have explained why the mortgage industry was susceptible to the lastest economic disaster and how lending/risk models can be improved for matching borrows with appropriate loan products. After reading this book it was apparent to me that banks were originating mortgages like a driver navigating a car on the open road at night with headlights. Headlights provide the illusion of safety because they bring the lines marking the middle and the edge of the road into view. But, there are many unforeseen risks. I would rather make the same journey at daytime when I have a clear view of the road and the surrounding landscape. Credit Risk Assessment has drawn the sun above the horizon! It has cast a light on the shotrcomings of the risk models that have been in use for years -risks that you cannot see at night beyond the reach of headlights. As a trained economist, I could not agree with the authors any more about including "non-traditional" economic data. CCAF is a risk model that will capature the true characteristics of the borrower, unlike today's antiquated models. BRAVO!

This book was well researched. I bought this book for the purpose of writing a research paper. However, it is an interesting read at the same time, very factual. Another book on this subject I would recommend is "S&L Hell by Kathleen Day

A rigourously detailed, cited, and sad indictment on one of the most significant domestic issues in recent U.S.A. history. Read how the bankers and politicians saw it coming, but instead of prevention, deliberatly increased the magnitude of the crisis to a level of such massive debt, that the American public would be forced to flip the bill instead of the criminals who are at fault.