Mortgage data: Where and how to find it

Mortgage data: Where and how to find It

While loan originators and lenders will be looking at the full picture, some professionals may only need certain data points related to a property’s mortgage or lender. So, what can you actually find online?

Mortgage data points you can find online

You can find data online for individual loans, the properties and people involved with those loans, and the lending entities involved. Some data sources have all of this information, whereas others may only have partial data.

You can find data on each of the following pieces of a mortgage:

• Dates: Loan origination and maturity dates.

• Dollars: How much the loan is worth.

• Terms: The length of the loan, specific loan type, and interest rate.

• Companies: The lenders of the loan, as well as any other entities involved (for example development or construction companies).

• Names: The people behind property ownership—including the names and contact information of the borrowing party.

• Assets: The property or properties being mortgaged, as well as any other asset being used as collateral to secure the loan.

Mortgage origination data

Mortgage origination date

The mortgage origination date is the date on which the borrower closed on the property and signed the mortgage deed. This piece of commercial real estate data is helpful for a few reasons. Most importantly, it tells you when that specific mortgage took effect, and therefore, gives you a rough assurance of when that loan matures. This is not always the same as the purchase date, either.

A person or entity can carry multiple mortgages on a property at the same time, or over time, in which case the origination date may be different than the purchase date. Sometimes, however, the origination date is the same as the closing date. This happens most often on the first mortgage associated with a property.

Knowing the mortgage origination date can give you a sense for how much the owner still owes on the property and when the loan is due. For debt brokers and lender entities, the dates associated with a loan can signal whether a property owner is interested in refinancing – particularly if their mortgage origination date was years ago and interest rates have significantly changed (for the better).

Mortgage maturity date

As its name implies, the mortgage maturity date tells you when a loan is set to mature. The loan will be completely paid off by this point, if not refinanced before then. This mortgage data is important to know because, unlike residential loans which typically span 15- or 30-year terms, commercial real estate loans can greatly vary in length. Construction loans, for instance, may only be for three-year terms. The maturity date tells you whether the loan is short or long-term in nature, and is indicative of when an owner may need to refinance.

A loan that only has a year or two left before the maturity date is typically a high-priority target for debt brokers and commercial real estate lenders.

Mortgage loan data

Loan amount

The loan amount is the amount borrowed via that specific mortgage for that property. The loan amount on one mortgage may not be the only debt on a property. There could be multiple loans, or other liens, on a property – so the loan amount for one mortgage may just be a glimpse into the total amount owed. That said, knowing the loan amount can be an indicator of how much a property is worth – particularly when viewed in conjunction with the mortgage origination date.

For instance, it’s probably safe to say that a property with a $10 million mortgage that was originated in 1978 has likely increased significantly in value since that time. The owner may be interested in refinancing to pull out some of his equity for other investment purposes. Compare that to a $10 million mortgage originated in 2018 – the owner probably has less equity in the property at his point in time. They likely shopped around for loans just last year, and will not be interested in selling or refinancing right now.

Interest rate

The interest rate is a piece of mortgage data that tells you how much the mortgagor is paying to borrow the money associated with that loan. In commercial real estate, knowing the interest rate associated with the mortgage note is only marginally helpful. That’s because many commercial mortgages have floating interest rates. Many commercial lenders tie their interest rates to the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) index, an average interbank interest rate at which a selection of banks on the London money market are prepared to lend to one another. The official LIBOR interest rates are typically announced once per working day. Banks in the U.S. tend to lend money on commercial real estate deals at a rate of [LIBOR + a certain number of “basis points” (bps)].

For example, if the LIBOR rate is 5.0% and a lender is tacking on 200 bps, the rate would be 7%. So, a floating rate loan at L+200 will vary depending on the LIBOR index. The note may only indicate L+200, in which case you may not know the exact interest rate at any given point in time.

This is much different than residential real estate, where interest rates tend to be fixed for at least a period of time, if not for the full duration of the loan. Complicating matters even further: interest rate swaps are very common in commercial real estate. An interest rate swap is a contract between two counter-parties who agree to exchange future interest rate payments they make on loans. Someone may swap a fixed rate with a floating interest rate, and these swaps are not recorded on a publicly-accessible mortgage note.

Therefore, the interest rate you see listed in a note may no longer be the interest rate, making this piece of mortgage data less helpful.

Mortgage lending data

Lender

The lender is the entity that’s lending money to the borrower. While typically a bank, a lender may also be a credit union or any other entity with the necessary capital. The lender is a valuable piece of commercial mortgage data because it provides insight into the types of deals that lenders typically take part in, and the interest rates they provide.

If a borrower uses the same lender over and over again, it is an indication that there’s a strong relationship between them and it may be difficult for a debt broker or different bank to make headway with that prospect. Conversely, a borrower who uses different lenders on different occasions may be less loyal to a specific bank and more interested in finding the best terms for their deal.

Property owner data

Mortgagor / borrower

The mortgagor is the company, LLC, or person that has taken out a loan for their subject property. While the borrower is often the property owner, we don’t exclusively refer to them as such because the mortgagor is sometimes different than the owner. For instance, one individual may be the mortgagor – taking on the full risk of the loan associated with the property – even if there are multiple owners reflected on the deed—and vice versa.

Someone might co-sign on a mortgage for a property but may not be listed on the deed. Knowing the borrower is a useful piece of mortgage data because it gives commercial real estate professionals a starting point when trying to figure out who to contact.

For instance, a debt broker may reach out to the mortgagor in order to pitch some sort of alternative financing. A buyer may want to pitch the mortgagor on selling the property.

However, in commercial real estate, unlike residential, many mortgages are held in a trust or limited liability company (LLC). For example, the mortgagor for an apartment building at 123 Broadway may be the 123 Broadway LLC. This piece of mortgage data is only useful if you’re able to figure out who is behind the LLC or trust. You can do that with Reonomy.

Commercial real estate databases for finding mortgage data

As we mentioned to start, one of the challenges with commercial mortgage data is that it is notoriously difficult to find. Mortgage data associated with private bank loans tend to be the most elusive, as banks are not required to report loan-level detail in the same manner as public entities. Instead, private banks (or even those that are publicly traded) tend to report categories of data, like total loan volume, rather than report the data associated with individual loans.

Often times, you’ll need some basic information, like the owner or borrower’s name and/or the property address. Then you can search the county’s registry of deeds to pull the public records associated with that property. That can be a laborious process, however. There are a few easily accessible commercial real estate databases that can help expedite your efforts of finding commercial mortgage data.

Reonomy

With Reonomy, commercial lenders and banks can quickly analyze the portfolios of owners and lenders with data spanning everything from transaction data, to current debt, to full ownership details. Reonomy technology connects all of this data to show the interconnectivity of people, companies, and property.

CoreLogic

CoreLogic offers a few different tools that can be helpful for finding mortgage data. One of those tools, called RealQuest, includes property-specific data for 149 million parcels, including transaction histories, MLS data, valuations and more. Another tool, called MarketTrac, allows users to search for mortgage data based on market area and/or transaction and mortgage loan type.

HUD

The HUD (U.S. Housing and Urban Development) website provides a monthly Excel file available for download that includes mortgage data for all HUD multifamily insured mortgages. This is a valuable tool in that it provides information about the project name, location, number of units, mortgage origination data and maturity dates, interest rate, amortized unpaid principal balance, servicer name and more. The downfall of this source is that it is only updated monthly, and only provides information about multifamily properties that are insured by HUD.

Although difficult, commercial lending data is not impossible to find. Whether you’re a debt broker or other commercial real estate professional, it’s important to understand what tools are available in the marketplace to make your search for mortgage data easier. Prospecting becomes infinitely easier when you have access to best-in-class mortgage data resources.