Agency Debt versus CMBS & Debt Funds

On a multi-family deal, why would someone choose a cmbs or debt fund loan over a Fannie or Freddie loan? The extra LTV sizing that you'll be able to achieve on an agency loan would seem to greatly outweigh the lower interest rate you might receive from a cmbs lender or debt fund, making the cost of capital much greater to go with a cmbs or debt fund. Would the only real risk just being that you are overleveraged?

4 Comments
 
Most Helpful

I work in CMBS and I will be the first to admit that agencies are typically the better option than us for multi debt and because of that we dont see as much multi as we used to in the 1.0 days. When I see a multi, I am typically very suspicious of the deal because something is off with the deal if the agencies dont want it. However, there are also reasons why cmbs or bank debt will be an option over agencies. Not every deal is a fit for agencies, example, if there is a high % of income from retail or if there is a massive cash out. Agencies have a box and the deal has to fit within their box. Agencies also have limitations based on their budget. few months ago, they were being very selective before their caps were increased. During that period we saw lots of multi come our way.

 

Echoing the above, pricing has been the recent incentive. Agencies were unsure where cap requirements were going to shake out a couple months back and blew their pricing out to make themselves less competitive on almost every deal (purposefully quoting horrible spreads in order to lose deals). Reasoning was that they didn't want to keep signing up huge numbers of deals with the regulator in the other room. Now that those levels have evened out a bit, they are back in the market.

Lenders also specialize in certain products. Sometimes Mezz/Pref is needed, and the Agencies aren't really great in those special situations. Further, refinance rates in years of maturity are a huge box for the agencies. Some deals don't size as well just given profile and other metrics the agencies wont UW (think retail tenant with signed lease but is not currently paying rent, or RUBS coming online in the next 6 months). CMBS and Debt Funds have more runway with these assumptions than agencies do.

Everything else that @Brody92" mentioned is true. The only thing that I would add is Sponsorship. Agencies won't do deals with specific Sponsors at the structures they are requesting given poor history, legal issues, foreign KP's, so on.

 

Nemo et temporibus in placeat aspernatur optio tempore sunt. Temporibus quia pariatur necessitatibus dignissimos facilis. Libero perspiciatis illum cupiditate sapiente.

Velit id aspernatur quasi ad vitae. Quia voluptatibus enim voluptas ducimus quas repellendus. Laboriosam alias facilis dolore. Maxime iusto amet excepturi ex consequatur voluptatibus dolores libero.

Ab distinctio rem ipsam ullam consequuntur commodi ad. Non aut corporis dolor eligendi dolorem dolor reiciendis. Quam cupiditate saepe veritatis ut sed dolorum omnis. Sunt sapiente possimus enim dolorem autem nostrum. Natus pariatur dicta ipsa enim numquam unde nobis. Neque consequatur vel reiciendis aut voluptatibus sed. Voluptate molestiae placeat ut iure optio.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”