Private-to-institutional refinance.
The private loan did its job — now stop paying for it. Stabilize, package, and place at institutional pricing. BC and Alberta.
Private commercial money is supposed to be a chapter, not the book — but exits don't happen by themselves, and every renewal at 11% that could have been a refinance at 5% is equity quietly leaving the building. The exit is a manufactured event: trailing numbers assembled, appraisal and environmental ordered to institutional standard, the story of the messy middle told as a completed turnaround. We've made this exact move for clients whose banks had already declined them once — read how a $3.2M mixed-use owner went from an 11.5% private first to a credit union at less than half the rate.
Every version of "the private loan is done."
The 10%+ private loan coming due — replaced with institutional debt instead of another expensive renewal.
The vacancy is leased, the renovation is done — time for the cheap capital the plan always pointed at.
Declined at stabilization once? Packaging and placement usually decide these — not the building.
First plus second plus fees — collapsed into one institutional mortgage at a fraction of the blended rate.
Rental assets graduating past conventional into insured pricing — the deepest rate cut available.
A few months short of seasoning — bridged, prepared, and placed the quarter the numbers mature.
Three exits off private pricing.
The standard exit: trailing rent roll, current appraisal, Phase I, and a lender who wasn't watching the messy middle. The building doesn't have to be perfect — the package does.
The double exit: out of private pricing and past conventional in one move. Worth the longer runway on almost every rental asset that qualifies — full detail on our multi-family page.
When the full exit isn't ready, a cheaper intermediate beats renewing at the incumbent's mercy. The refinance ladder is climbed a rung at a time if it has to be.
Rates, spreads, and leverage are typical ranges for illustration — last reviewed July 2026. Compare your current coupon against institutional pricing with the commercial payment calculator.
Files like yours.
Common exit questions.
When can I refinance out of a private commercial mortgage?+
The window is usually 12–24 months after the private loan funded — once trailing financials support bank-grade debt service. The asset needs to show what the private money bought: the rent roll stabilized, the renovation done, the problem cleared. We start building the exit file months before the window opens.
How much cheaper is institutional money, really?+
Private commercial debt typically runs 8.5%–13% plus fees; conventional institutional pricing sits at GoC + 150–250 bps, and CMHC-insured multi-family lands 100–175 bps inside that. On most files that's a rate cut of half or more — on a $3M loan, the difference is measured in six figures over a term.
The bank declined me at stabilization — is the exit dead?+
Almost never. Round-two declines are usually packaging failures — a rent roll presented mid-turnover, an appraisal that predates the lease-up, an environmental question left open. The same building, papered properly and placed at a lender whose box it fits, is a different application. That second look is most of what we do on these files.
What does the institutional lender want to see?+
The boring version of your building: 12–24 months of trailing rent roll and operating statements, a current appraisal, a clean Phase I, and coverage at 1.20–1.35x on stabilized numbers. Institutional lenders buy stability — the exit file's job is to prove the drama is over.
Does breaking the private mortgage early cost me?+
Usually little or nothing — most private commercial terms go open after 3–6 months precisely so the refinance can happen the moment it's ready. We check the payout terms before planning the exit date; where a closed period lingers, the timing is built around it.
What if my numbers aren't quite there yet?+
Then the ladder is climbed a rung at a time: a cheaper private or B-side facility replaces the expensive one while seasoning completes, and the institutional take-out lands next. What we don't recommend is drifting into renewal after renewal at emergency pricing — every quarter on private money that no longer needs to be private is equity leaking.
Ready to exit? Have these ready.
The exit file is a proof package: what the private money fixed, and twelve to twenty-four months of numbers showing it stayed fixed.
- The private mortgage — statement, rate, fees, maturity, and any renewal offer on the table
- Trailing rent roll and leases — 12–24 months tells the stabilization story
- Operating statements for the property since the private loan funded
- Current appraisal and Phase I — or we order both to institutional standard
- What the private money fixed — the renovation, lease-up, or cleanup it accomplished
- Sponsor financials — T1s/T2s, NOAs, net-worth statement
- Any prior institutional declines and why — it changes the packaging, not the possibility
Every month at 11% is a choice. Choose the exit.
Send the private mortgage statement and the trailing numbers — we'll tell you whether the exit window is open, and what the institutional rate would save you, in writing.