Mezzanine Loan vs Prefered Equity?

Hi guys, would really appreciate any help in simplifying this for me.

I get that a mezzanine loan is secured by the equity interest in the entity that has invested in a real estate property, but what is preferred equity secured by? I am not getting it. Thank you so much!

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Best Response

There are a few ways you can structure both of these. The way I have often looked at it is mezz financing is as another form of debt and it can often, but not always, require an inter creditor agreement with the senior lender. You can also structure mezz as equity or as a form of convertible debt. Really there is a lot of room for creativity here and this can mean different things to different people.

Pref Equity does not require an inter creditor agreement and usually just enjoys a preferred position compared to the common equity. Usually pref equity generates a fixed return return at a rate that would be lower than JV equity but higher than a lender could/would provide.

Both pref equity and mezz financing usually include some sort of minimum yield maintenance or minimum return multiple language to make sure you don't just pay it off as soon as some cheaper money shows up.

This is a really interesting area of real estate finance that doesn't have a lot of hard and fast rules.

 

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