The Wisconsin Investor
Each week, we bring you interviews with some of Wisconsin's top real estate investors who share their tips, tricks, and strategies that you can implement right away. This show is dedicated to helping Wisconsin real estate investors elevate their game. Along with interviews, I'll also dive into hot topics in solo episodes and feature experts from various real estate sectors across Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Investor
Hard Money vs Commercial Lending… Which One Actually Makes You More Money?
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Most investors default to hard money because it’s simple.
But what if that’s actually costing you more than you think?
In this episode of The Wisconsin Investor, Reese Brown sits down with commercial lender Chad Miller of Bristol Morgan Bank to break down the real differences between hard money lending and commercial lending, and when each one actually makes sense for your deal.
They walk through real examples, numbers, and scenarios that show how commercial lending can sometimes require more upfront capital, but actually leave you with less money in the deal over time.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
• The key differences between hard money and commercial lending
• Why commercial loans are more relationship-based, and why that matters
• What “85% of project cost” really means and how it works
• How draw schedules and rehab funding actually play out
• Why some investors end up with less cash in a deal using commercial loans
• When it still makes more sense to use hard money
• How to build a banking relationship that unlocks better terms over time
They also dive into how community banks evaluate deals, what new investors should do before reaching out, and how experienced investors can get more flexible financing as they grow.
One of the biggest takeaways? The best loan option isn’t always the simplest one, and understanding both can completely change how you structure your deals.
If you’re flipping houses, building a rental portfolio, or just trying to figure out how to fund your next deal more efficiently, this episode is packed with practical insight you can actually use.
Meet The Lender And His Background
SPEAKER_01Hey, what's going on, guys? Uh, welcome back to the Wisconsin Investor Podcast. I am your host once again, Reese Brown, and just finished up uh a great episode with Chad Miller here uh with Bristol Morgan Bank, a commercial lender, uh, but wanted to hop on quick before you listen to the conversation. Um, gonna be talking a lot about commercial lending and comparing it kind of to hard money lending as well. And we've got a really cool resource on Wisconsin Discount Properties.com. If you go to our website and head over to investor resources and look at hard money versus commercial lending. For those of you listening, I am sharing my screen right now for just a second. Um, if you go to that site, there is a really simple calculator where you just type in your purchase price, your rehab amount, ARV, and the length of the project. And it will compare side by side commercial, how a typical commercial bridge loan would work compared to hard money. Um and what I think a lot of you guys will be surprised to find is sometimes you actually are coming out of pocket less uh with some of these commercial lenders. Certainly still is is a time and a place for hard money. And there are some examples on this website um page as well. Uh, but certainly an awesome resource that can kind of give you a feel of when it might be you know the right move to use, you know, a local community bank in a commercial loan and when it's better to use hard money. Um so quick shout out to Wisconsin Discount Properties, but without any further ado, let's get into today's episode. What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Wisconsin Investor Podcast. Today I am super excited about the episode we have. Uh, I've been waiting to do this one for a little bit. Um, something I personally am very passionate about, the commercial lending industry. And we have one of the best in the business uh across the virtual table from me. Uh, welcome, Mr. Chad Miller to the podcast. How are we doing?
SPEAKER_00Appreciate it, Reese. I'm good. How are you doing today?
SPEAKER_01I am doing excellent. Like I mentioned, really excited here for this one specifically because of the opportunities in commercial lending that I don't think are talked about enough because it is so relationship-based. It's not a one product fits all, uh, which can be hard to learn about, but uh that's what I want to talk to you about here today. So before we get into some of that fun stuff, I want to give the audience a quick rundown of your history in the lending industry and kind of the the elevator pitch for you, Chad.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So um currently our senior lender at Bristol Morgan Bank, small community bank uh service, northeast Wisconsin. Um, been in the banking industry since 2009, um, and have always been part of the community bank you know organization. So worked at a different community bank for about 10 and a half years um in Oshkosh and then made the transition to to Bristol and uh end of 2019. So um started my career path on the uh the commercial side and our are you know as an underwriter and credit analyst and then worked into uh lending role over the years. Um and uh you know was excited to be on here today and kind of you know explore some additional questions, Reese, that you've got and hopefully provide some insight to you know questions and stuff that your investors are looking for, right? And how to stretch your deals and kind of go from there.
Who Community Banks Lend To
SPEAKER_01For sure. Yeah, in terms of like your typical client that you're working working with, and obviously we've known each other for a long time now, Chad. And I still I don't know, like you're like the the most common investor for you. Who are you seeing on the commercial side? Is it an investor? What is your what's your typical client look like? What's their situation look like?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we we see it all over the board. I mean, I've dealt with clients that they're just starting off on their first property, right? Their first investment deal, um, all the way to guys that have owned hundreds or even thousands of doors, um, and everyone in between. So I don't think we like to kind of pigeonhole like who we're working with, right? Um, but it's you know, really the geographic uh areas what was is important to us, right? Because we want to work with local investors that know the area, know the markets that they're investing in. Um and being a smaller community bank, we need to keep those areas a little closer to home for areas that that we're more familiar with. So, you know, as I indicated before, our lending territory really, you know, south of Fond du Lac up to Green Bay and surrounding areas, um, and then you know, throughout Northeast Wisconsin, kind of going east towards the lake shore. So your Manitouk, Sheboygan, Two Rivers areas as well. Um, so you know, we got guys that do that do real estate full time, and you know, we also deal with a lot of small business owners too that you know that are looking to take their cash and invest elsewhere um and might be might be real estate for them. So, you know, we can help on both sides, not just on the real estate side, but small business lending as well.
When To Reach Out As A Beginner
SPEAKER_01Small business, yeah, yeah. Nice. Um, we'll we'll start out kind of and we'll get into some more in-depth questions as we go along, but let's start out with your brand new investor. You guys have worked with um friends of mine actually to start out their investing career. Uh, there is one person that you had had helped get their first flip. So let's go before they're even ready for that, Chad. Maybe, you know, I guess the question could be when is it a good time to reach out to yourself? Like what ducks do you want to have in a row before it's even worth having the conversation with Chad uh to get yourself into say that first flip, that first rental?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, I'm always you know open for a phone call, in-person meeting, you know, anything like that, just to have the conversation, right? Just to get an idea of you know what are you looking at really doing? Um, you know, too, do you like real estate or are you just testing the waters, right? Um, you know, and as those conversations go along, that's when we start to bring in, you know, the financial review and everything like that. So I always like to have just kind of a quick off-call or in-person meeting just to get an idea of what truly are they looking to accomplish. Um, you know, and then from there, you know, just just like any other lender, you're collecting, you know, your tax returns, personal financial statement, all that good stuff, and uh and do a little bit deeper dive to get them pre-qualified and kind of ready when that deal does hit the you know hit the table. Um, you have a little bit better understanding if it's gonna work for them or not, for sure.
Loan Structure Project Cost And ARV
SPEAKER_01I think one of the things that I see so often with uh some of the newer investors is it's really easy to understand some of the other investing products out there. Uh, for example, the easiest one being hard money, right? We've got some really good hard money lenders in the area and their products are super straightforward, right? It's like, okay, I just plug in this, you know, 70% of ARV, 12% interest, my origination fee, and it is the same across the board. Um, when you're starting to have, I think that's the the biggest objection I get. What what is a great way for these newer investors to learn about your product while still not knowing all the answers to start? And this might be a loaded question for each ad, but is it as simple as that conversation? Are there other things that they can do on their own to help educate themselves on maybe some of these other lending options?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I always tell people, you know, kind of the front end of if we're doing a flip or a long-term, you know, rental that might need some rehab, is we're probably gonna start out at that 85% of project cost mark, right? So um, you know, be prepared to potentially have some skin in the game on these you know first few deals and and create that relationship, right? Um sometimes on the rentals, we can get that cash back out uh, you know, once the property is completed and rented out, uh, and get that cash back to the investor, you know, as long as everything from a loan to value, debt service coverage calculation, everything looks good. Um, you know, on the flip side, they're gonna get their cash back, you know, when that property sells. So uh and accumulating that cash kind of for then the next transaction. Um and for us, it's really, you know, that's kind of a starting point, and and we can be flexible in some of those terms along the way, but it's building that relationship, seeing projects, you know, through successfully and building that relationship between the bank and the investor uh allows the bank down the road to kind of grow with them uh and be a partner, you know, in their success. And then that's where sometimes those terms you know can get a little, you know, a little more flexible and you know, loan to values can can change and and things like that. And it all depended on you know what's going on in the economy, too, right? So of course picture in time, that's kind of what we're doing right now, but you know, it could always be subject to change depending on market conditions too.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Um, going back to the the project cost there, when you say 85% of project cost, um, what is that what does that mean? Want to break that down into very in detail, I guess, of what that means.
SPEAKER_00Sure. So we'll look at your total project cost as your purchase price and your renovation costs, your rehab costs. Um you know, one other thing people bring up too is okay, you know, through you guys at Wisconsin Discount Properties, you know, you'll have an assignment fee. We'll include that in assignment fee as part of your total purchase price as well. Um, so that's something to note, but then you know, making sure that that figure, you know, we're gonna lend up to 85% of that total figure, um, you know, also is coming in on the back end because we're still gonna get uh completed appraisal done um and utilize that you know after repair value to make sure that that 85% mark is not exceeding, you know, that 75 to 80 percent of that as completed value on the back end as well. So kind of looking at it in in two different steps.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so that 75 to 80 percent too is your after repair values a lot. What some of our listeners might know that as is your your ARV, right? When you're talking to maybe a hard money lender, they'll fund up to 65% of your ARV. So what you guys will do, if I'm not mistaken, is fund up to 75 to 80 percent of that ARV. However, at the same time you're making sure that or you could explain it better here is that 85% is your what you would lend on the initial purchase, and it just needs to fall under 75 to 80 percent of that total project.
Draws Rehab Funding And Cash Back
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so making sure that 85% of our total project cost does not exceed 75 to 80 percent of that ARV. Correct for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yep. And then for the rehab portion of it, you want to explain how that works as far as like the draw process and and that kind of thing, or so it's eighty-five percent of the initial purchase, and then uh buyer would need to come with about 15% down again. This is just an example that we're working through, something that's maybe more common now. Yep. Their rehab, you would also fund 85% of that.
SPEAKER_00That's correct, yeah. We typically then just hold that back at the bank, uh unfunded, and then you know, we would handle the draws internally at the bank. Um, and we try to make that super easy for the investor, you know, just uh an email to me and or one of our other lenders saying, Hey, uh looking to draw you know 10,000 for XYZ, right? And um, and we will fund typically 85% of that draw request. So really your 15% of the rehab portion just kind of comes in little by little throughout the draw process.
SPEAKER_01As you're making those drawers, correct. Yeah, yeah. And I think what's what's sometimes misunderstood too about your products is off the bat, right, you're gonna be coming with more money um into the deal than say a hard money loan. But because like right now what you guys are doing going up to 75 to maybe maybe 80% of that project cost is once you start to do the rehab, um, there's actually a lot of instances where you'll have less money in the deal um over the course of the loan term when you're using someone like yourself than you would be with hard money because you're funding a larger percentage of that project, which I think is also something that's sometimes um misunderstood. For for that example that that uh we just kind of went through there, chat, is that something that is, you know, is that doable for someone who's just starting out? Or what would they what are some of the qualifications that they would need to, you know, in general, right? We're generally speaking here, but to to qualify for something like that, maybe there's an example that comes to mind as someone who had a more unique situation that you were able to do this for.
SPEAKER_00I mean, that's typically how we start out with investors and your relationships, and that's that's pretty kind of the that's like the line that we that kind of draw for our standard structure uh when we do those kind of loans, whether that's a flip or you know, a rehab into a longer term hold. Um, the difference being uh on the rental side, if you are holding the property, you know, we can look at getting that 15% back out for you, you know, before that kicks into a longer fixed rate product at the end. Um investors do like that, right? A little skin in the game on the front end for the first you know three, six, nine months, whatever that is, and then the ability to get that cash back and use it for the next project. Um, but obviously you want to make sure that you know what we're lending on from a cash flow perspective, you know, works for that that specific property as well.
SPEAKER_01And when they're say an investor is gonna hold a property that that needed some rehab, needed some love at first, and they used you know the product we just went over, would they need to refinance with you again, or would that appraisal that you got beforehand with the as completed value be considered and would just would it kind of roll into a longer term loan?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so on our end, we would just consider that a renewal or like an in a renewal and increase. Uh, you wouldn't have to go through a whole refinance um you know at that point in time. So typically it's just you know, increasing our loan, sign a few docs, right? Um, might have to file you know secondary mortgage or something for that increase for that additional money, but uh pretty straightforward. So you're not paying you know double the fees and and all of that kind of stuff. Um now from the appraisal standpoint, you know, we do have to follow the regulatory you know processing guidelines there. So if market conditions were to change um, you know, negatively, let's say from when we got the original appraisal to six or nine months later, right? If there's changes in economic conditions, we may have to get another appraisal. But you know, you're looking at the last five plus years, we've been in an appreciating market. We have not had to do that. But if things were to change and go the other way, or there's a market correction, let's say, uh, you know, in value, we that is something we may need to get. Um, but at this point in time, we are not doing that.
SPEAKER_01Okay. No. Yeah, it makes sense why in the last five years maybe had needed to. Um, have there been talks about that being potential with maybe some uncertainty going on or not?
Terms Payments Fees And Rates
SPEAKER_00Uh, not at this point. We still follow, you know, uh, you know, market data and reports there. It's obviously something we keep an eye on, you know, pretty much on a weekly basis. Um, but that's something that we're not really talking about in a negative way. Um, but obviously interest rate talks are always always on the board. Um, but as far as market values, we haven't seen anything in our local communities that we serve, you know, any indication at this point that that values would be dropping by any means. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01We haven't seen we haven't seen that either. It uh the the episode we had last week showed the exact opposite. So just wondering if it's talks within uh the banking industry here. But um back to that bridge product, you know, the bridge loan, we'll call it, where you're funding some of the project, some of the rehab. What how long is that? Does that uh do I have you know the 85% of the rehab where you'll pay pay out on that? How long is that term? And then how are those payments made? And do I pay every month? Do I wait till the end? What does that look like?
SPEAKER_00Sure. So we set them up on a nine-month interest-only loan, uh, and with monthly payments due to the bank of just that interest piece. So obviously, R and R and the interest accrues daily, uh, whatever balance your loan is as you draw on those rehab funds, you know, for a project, obviously your interest carry is going to increase because your loan's increasing at you know the same time. Um so we just require the monthly interest-only payments during that nine-month period. And if you were to get you know the project done sooner than that, we can always um you know flip that over to principal and interest sooner. We don't have to wait for that nine months. So if you got a done project leased out and want to get it on you know termed out on principal and interest, we can do that before. Um, on the other hand, if you do let's say hit nine months and need additional time, um, we typically will do another like 90-day interest only period, so another three months uh to allow either time for the project to be done, or if you're flipping it and selling it, you know, to market it for sale and get it sold. Uh, and then from there, we typically, once we hit 12 months, like to start seeing uh, you know, principal and interest payments made on the debt at that point. For sure.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Um in terms of origination costs, if say I was gonna flip it and then it wasn't gonna be a loan that you guys were gonna have to hold on in your bank for a while, are there differences in origination costs, like generally between something that I'm planning to hold long term versus something I'm planning to flip?
SPEAKER_00There is, yeah. So the short-term nature of the flips, right, and obviously it could be a little bit riskier with some of the rehab and stuff that we're doing, and we know they're not gonna be in our books very long. Uh, our origination fee on those are twelve hundred and fifty dollars right now. Um that same product though, that you know you're gonna do the you know, interest-only purchase and and uh you know, want to rent it uh when everything's completed, those origination fees are only$350 then for the rental.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Um so yeah, so you're looking at no matter the loan size, it's$1250 is the the origination fee if I'm planning to flip uh a property. Plus, is is that uh an appraisal too we need to pay for, most likely.
SPEAKER_00So that would be separate of an appraisal and title work as well. Yep.
SPEAKER_01Title work. So generally, how much do you have in uh your you know investors budgeting right now? They're posing on a flip flip lock.
SPEAKER_00Probably probably around 2,000 with that origination fee and the appraisal and title. And title. And then there's there's smaller, you know, smaller loan fees for you know, mortgage filings and credit report and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01Yep. And then if it was something that they were planning on holding on to for a while, looking at dropping about$900 off that for your origination. Okay. And that's this is all we're we're talking right now at the beginning of May 2026. So who knows when people will be listening to this, but this is what uh what where things are at now, which leads me into the next question. Um, and it might be better to answer this on, you know, in addition to whatever our prime rate's at or where our rates are at, but what are we seeing right now in this climate uh halfway through Q2 here in terms of rates for some of these products, these bridge loan products?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so the interest-only period, anytime there's the rehab construction piece to a deal, um, they are going to be tied to the Wall Street Journal prime rate. Uh, and we are doing them pretty much at prime plus one to prime plus one and a quarter. Kind of just depends on the deal, underwriting, um, loan to value uh on all those. Uh, but that's pretty much the kind of that range of rate. Um, and then we do put a floor on them, so floor prime at the time of close. So as of today, prime is six point seven five. So there would be a floor. So if you know, over the course of that project, if there were rate reductions um or increases, um, that your rate would be reflective of that. Um whatever it currently is.
SPEAKER_01So right now we're looking at you said prime is what what is it at now? It's around six.
SPEAKER_00As it is six point seven five.
Relationship Flexibility And Hard Money Tradeoffs
SPEAKER_01Oh, six seven five. So yeah, looking at right around that seven seven five to eight percent on your interest-only payments for that portion of it, is what we're looking at that in today's market. Yep. Um, no, for sure. Uh, and maybe this might be a loaded question for each and there might not be a perfect answer for it. But as as you have clients that, you know, maybe they do complete a few deals, things are going well. Is there any examples that you can give of, hey, here's uh you know, a weird situation where we were able to get creative because that relationship was there? Um, are there any stories that come to mind?
SPEAKER_00Um guys that we've done a lot of projects for, right? And um, we have a long history with, both on the loan side, uh deposit relationships. Um, you know, and we've seen successful projects over time with uh there are times where hey, this one might only need 20 grand of rehab. It's a you know, that will fund 100% of costs. So there's you know, we do have sometimes that flexibility of doing that versus the 85%. Um, but a lot of that is dependent on you know underwriting, financial strength, relationship. Uh, when we may go to a product like that, depending on the deal. Um, same thing on interest rate, right? You when you uh when we underwrite clients, you know. There's some interest rate flexibility when we term things out. You know, typically our our flips are gonna be pretty standard at that prime plus, you know, our whatever that adjuster is, that 1%, one and a quarter. Um, but when it comes to the fixed rate piece of it, when we term those loans out, you know, that relationship and deposit relationship, you know, allows us to, you know, maybe knock some some points off the interest rate as well. So it all all plays a factor.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. What I take away from that is like just getting started and doing a few of them. The only thing it can do is help you, especially if those projects go well. Then you're entering a territory where you know you're you're very competitive with say what a hard money lender is doing in terms of you know the the investor not having to come with a bunch of their own cash, that's their goal, and then also having those lower origination uh fees and you know lower interest rates. Yeah. Um on the counterside of this, you obviously know some of the hard money lenders in the area, Chad. Um, and just that as is you know kind of the the other option for a lot of folks. What are some of the the downfalls that you would say of some of your products? Like when is it maybe better to use a hard money loan than it would be to go to you guys? It wouldn't be a good fit for you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, sometimes just timing, right? I mean, I've got good relationships with some of those the hard money lenders, and we've helped each other out on deals, right? And our good referral source back and forth. But you know, we're typically going to be in that 30 days, you know, maybe 45, depending on the environment, uh, to close. We like to say we get it done in 30 days or so, but um, you know, sometimes might need a little more time where you know those guys can sometimes close a lot quicker, you know, a week, two weeks, depending on what that looks like. Um, and then there's always the cash-in piece, right? So while they might be a little more expensive, they might be able to help you get into a deal from the cash perspective, right? The cash-in. And then, you know, a community bank like ourselves, and there's other banks out there too, that you know, will take the loan on the back end when everything's done and properties leased and ready to roll. Um, you know, and then you do basically a cash out refi or a normal refi, depending on the structure that the hard money lender uh, you know, proposed to them and and then take over the debt. So I think we kind of can work well together in that arena just depending on timeline and and structure from those, you know, from that standpoint. And one thing I did want to just make a note on before we got deeper, Reese, was you know, with the sometimes, you know, we have done 100% of cost before. That is something that we're you know, we we kind of tread lightly on, depending on the borrowers, but it is one thing we have to keep um keep a close eye on because just from a regulatory standpoint, you can only have so many dollars in that bucket of what we would consider a high loan to value loan. Um, so well, I wish you could just kind of go at it and let it ride, right? As much as you can. You have to you have to uh there's a there's a balance there from a risk perspective and from a compliance side that we've got to follow too. So I just want to just wanted to make note of that as well. So if people are asked, yep.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. You got a bunch of people coming to you next week. Hey, Chip, I want to uh you fund 100% of this deal for me.
Self Employed Borrowers Cash Flow And Reserves
SPEAKER_00Yep. No, not the not the greatest. Sometimes it works, but yeah, gotta be, you know, we kind of tread lately with it. Yep. 100%.
SPEAKER_01Uh for the guys who, you know, I talk to a lot of folks who, you know, they're entrepreneurs, right? If they're investing in real estate, uh a lot of these guys will be, you know, self-employed, uh, maybe not showing, you know, a strong W-2. Maybe they got great credit, but uh, you know, on paper, a lot of the money that they're making is going back into the business. When you're running into those kind of folks, especially ones who are starting out, uh, what are some things that they can do to prepare themselves to you know be approved uh with a community bank like yourself?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's sometimes a uh fine line too, right? Of uh on the self-employed side, I mean, we still look at it, right? Like you're whatever you're reporting on your tax returns, uh as far as you know, income, we're gonna be able to use, but there's also that other side that we've seen too, where you know there might be a good chunk of stuff being written off. And you know, we can always add back the depreciation aspect of it, but and maybe some one-time you know expenses if they're equipment related or something like that. But um, you know, that I get there's that line of okay, I don't want to pay Uncle Sam this, um, but I also want to, you know, make sure I'm approved for financing down the road too. So I I see it all the time, and it is something, you know, like even with existing clients, like, hey, you know, if we want to continue doing deals together or for you know, be approved for additional funding resources, like sometimes you got to show more more cash on that bottom line. Um, so it just kind of depends on the borrower, the business, you know, that kind of stuff. Because we do look, you know, from a global perspective, we're underwriting not just the property, but the individual or their business, you know, and want a global look um, you know, at everything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Does having like say some cash reserves, does that help folks in that position? Like, are there certain things that I know it's going to be a gray area here for sure, Chad, but are there things that like when I run into you know an investor that's self-employed, doesn't show a lot of income, I have them do, you know, a coup these few things and then a year later they're ready. Is there is it like having cash reserves? Is it just okay, hey, show some more income this year? Um are the are there, are there any other examples of that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean it's it's probably a mix of both, right? Like from a lender standpoint, you know, there's some out there that might just be, you know, might put a little more weight as we call it collateral lenders. And then from our seat, we look, we're I would consider myself a cash flow lender, right? Like collateral is still part of the the piece of the approval, but cash is what is gonna pay the loan back. Um, you know, we don't ever want to get in a position of having to collect our collateral, so we want cash first. So I would say, you know, the improvement of your of your overall income would be priority number one. Uh, and then two, liquidity in reserves for any borrower. You know, whether you're showing, you know, uh a really strong debt service coverage ratio on individually or your business or whatever, um, but that liquidity piece more so, especially in this environment over the last couple years, I think is is very important for not just an approval standpoint, but I think protecting your borrowers too. Um you know, I've seen I've been in banking for 17 years. You see a couple of the swings over that time, and um the people that have that I saw coming out of the Great Recession that had cash on hand and equity in an equity position were the ones that made it out, you know, of you know, whether it was their business, their you know, their investment properties or whatever that was. So that can help, that can go a long way if there's ever, you know, any type of economic downturn or things tighten up a little bit. Um, I think both, you know, that's key, whether you're you've been in business for 20 years or you're just starting out. Um that's something we look at from all of our borrowers.
SPEAKER_01Yep. You're not putting them in a tight spot, which is it's crazy to me that some of those regulations, Chad, may uh they exist in in your world, but yet there's like there's things like afterpay. You'd go buy a car with 0% down. I don't understand how uh some of those regulations work. You might know a little bit more about that than me, but uh no, I think that is obviously uh a good good point there.
SPEAKER_00But um RC as you know, sorry to interrupt you, Reese. I was just gonna make a point. Like the community banking world is truly it not just our bank, every bank, you're in a partnership with your clients uh and your borrowers, right? So if they're not successful, that that bank isn't gonna be successful. So it's not fair to just get a deal done to get a deal done if it's not gonna put them in the right spot to continue to be successful. Yeah, um, so you know that's that's one thing we look at. Not every, you know, in a perfect world, we'd like to do every deal, right? But that just doesn't happen. Um, and just want to make sure that both sides of the table you can come to an agreement and it it fits for both parties.
Strengthening The Bank Relationship
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, that that's a perfect lead into what I was gonna bring up next. Like it's we've talked the whole time about hey, what what can you do for some of these investors? What can some of these investors do for yourself? Maybe if we're talking community banks in general, um what are what are things that they could do? Uh maybe it's with your bank or outside of that, that would like strengthen the relationship on your end rather than them just coming to you looking for money all the time.
SPEAKER_00Part of it is, you know, we're kind of in it together, and and what we're doing right now is like referral bases, right? So like we get clients that you know, we hope that we've met their expectations, we've had a nice relationship that they tell their friend about, right? Or their coworker or a family member, right? And um, you know, from our end, we don't we don't do a lot of advertising, it's word of mouth and it's a referral type business. So, you know, we as we're kind of growing and putting some systems in place, that is one thing that we are tracking is hey, we have like we've got this relationship with a borrower, and they've kept referring business our way. Um, you know, that that improves that that the quality of the relationship as well. And and uh, you know, when things are you know, underwriting is appropriately and you're in a good collateral spot and they've got deposits with the bank, like all that kind of plays together. Like we want to be able to add that, add you know, that referral uh into that mix to help, you know, they just may they might deserve you know a little bit uh you know better term on this next deal. They, you know, we're kind of all working together um you know for the same thing. So, you know, referrals are are one thing that that helps us too and you know helps us grow and and you grow as a bank and you grow those deposits help with some of your cost of funding as well.
Wisconsin Tradition And How To Contact Chad
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and having it having an an account there as well and keeping some of your own funds is something that I assume is also looked at in a in a positive light. Uh yeah, you primarily bank with you guys. So correct, yeah. Um no. No, this has been unbelievable, Chad. I think there's so much we could go in circles on this and keep going in more and more in depth on it. But I think the the main takeaway that I wanted listeners to have today is just you got to start the conversation. It's it's such a relationship-based. We can say it over and over again, uh, but I don't think it's it's understood that it is, you know, you develop that relationship, you do a few deals, and then one day, you know, you're you realize, hey, look what I can do at this point now that I've I've done a couple deals with you know Versa Morgan and Chad, and and now I have the flexibility to to maybe tackle two or three deals at the same time, uh, whereas before I was just waiting to stack up a you know 25% to buy the next one. So absolutely no, I certainly appreciate you coming on here today. Um final question as always on the podcast. Favorite Wisconsin tradition, Chad. What is it for ya?
SPEAKER_00Favorite Wisconsin tradition? Mm-hmm. That's a good question. I don't know. I'm kind of old school, like I love Packer Sundays, right? Like old fashioned and a Packer game up in Green Bay. I don't know if it gets better than that. So been going to games as a kid, and you know, lucky enough to have season tickets in our family that my grandpa would take me to, and now they're, you know, our you know, me and my siblings have kind of carried that on. And so kind of seeing that tradition during Packer seasons is always a lot of fun. So I would say that in a nice uh whiskey sour old-fashioned. So that's my go-to.
SPEAKER_01There you go. I uh I can't believe Corey lets me run this because that's that's a common answer on here. And I don't know if you know this, but I am uh I am a Vikings fan to my core. Uh my dad brainwashed me into it.
SPEAKER_00So we'll let it go today. We'll let it go today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't know if I can agree with that answer, chat. But uh best way for listeners here to to find you. Yeah. Um what email, text, give that out here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so email is just cmiller at bristolmorganbank.com. Uh otherwise, uh, you can find me on our website as well, bristlemorganbank.com under our our lenders uh tab. Um otherwise, uh, you know, text too. People shoot texts over, set up appointments and whatnot. Um can be reached at 920 379 7862. Perfect.
SPEAKER_01Awesome stuff, man. Appreciate it again. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me. No, it's great having you. Sweet.
SPEAKER_00I appreciate it, Reese.
