Fast, Transparent Lending

A Closer Look at Each Step

Every New City Financial loan follows the same five-stage path, and knowing what happens at each stage — and why — makes the process feel far less opaque. Here is what to expect from your first inquiry through the day your loan funds.

1. Application. The process begins with a short application in which you tell us about the property and the financing you are seeking: the address, the property type, whether it is a purchase or a refinance, the loan amount, and your estimated value or purchase price. Because this is business-purpose lending on investment and commercial real estate, we do not ask for pay stubs, W-2s, or personal tax returns to get started. The goal at this stage is simply to confirm the deal fits our parameters — a loan from $75K to $50MM, at up to 75% loan-to-value, on an eligible property in one of the 40-plus states we serve — so we can move quickly to real numbers.

2. Document & valuation review. Once the application is in, our team moves to document and valuation review. We gather the items that let us understand how the property performs: a rent roll or lease for tenant-occupied assets, recent operating statements, and basic entity and title information. In parallel, we review a valuation of the property so the loan amount can be tied to a supportable value rather than an estimate. This is usually the stage where a deal is confirmed or refined, and it typically takes just a few business days when documents arrive promptly.

3. Underwriting on cash flow (DSCR). Underwriting is where our approach differs most from a conventional bank. Instead of building a file around your personal income, we underwrite the property’s own cash flow using the debt-service coverage ratio (DSCR) — the property’s income measured against the proposed loan payment. We can work with properties starting from a 1.0 DSCR, meaning the income covers the debt, and a credit profile starting from a 500 FICO. Stronger cash flow and credit generally support better terms, but the property, not your paycheck, carries the file.

4. Term sheet. When underwriting supports the request, we issue a term sheet — a clear, written summary of the loan we are prepared to offer. It lays out the loan amount and LTV, the rate and structure, the fixed term, and any remaining conditions to satisfy before closing. We offer fixed-rate structures over 3-, 8-, and 30-year terms with no balloon payments, so the payment you review on the term sheet is the payment you can plan around. Reviewing this document is your opportunity to ask questions and confirm the terms fit your strategy before anything is finalized.

5. Closing in under three weeks. The final stage is closing. You clear the remaining conditions, we coordinate with your title or escrow company, and funds are wired at closing. Because our underwriting is streamlined and our document list stays focused, many borrowers move from application to funded in under three weeks — far faster than the timelines common with conventional financing.

Illustrative rates; actual rates vary. Not a commitment to lend.

How DSCR Qualification Differs From Bank Lending

If you have financed a home, the process here will feel different in a fundamental way. A traditional mortgage qualifies you — the borrower — by scrutinizing your personal income, your debt-to-income ratio, and years of tax returns. A DSCR loan qualifies the property. The central question is not “how much do you personally earn?” but “does this property generate enough income to comfortably cover its own loan payment?”

That distinction matters for real estate investors. Self-employed borrowers, investors who own several properties, and buyers whose tax returns show significant depreciation can look weaker on paper to a conventional underwriter even when their properties are performing well. By measuring the debt-service coverage ratio instead, we look past personal tax strategy and focus on the asset. A property with steady rents that cover the proposed payment can qualify on its own strength, starting from a 1.0 DSCR and a 500 FICO.

It also keeps the process fast and repeatable. Because we are not reassembling your personal financial life for every transaction, an investor can finance one property and then the next without the paperwork burden compounding each time. The trade-off is scope: this is business-purpose lending for investment and commercial property — including owner-occupied commercial space — and it is not available for primary residences or owner-occupied homes. If your goal is to grow or reposition a real estate portfolio, that focus is exactly what keeps our underwriting fast and predictable.