Finance Lobby: A Team of Dedicated CRE Professionals Revolutionizes the CRE Financing Marketplace

Over the past few years, the commercial real estate industry has seen a massive influx of investments as tech companies offer CRE lenders and brokers online platforms that can theoretically streamline their operations. With so much money being spent, it is interesting that the platform used by most CRE professionals is not, in fact, one designed by these corporations. Instead, it was created by Finance Lobby, a small company of industry professionals who are passionate about helping lenders and brokers to do their jobs better. Finance Lobby snuck into the market, so to speak, while the heavyweights weren’t looking, and by the time they realized what was happening, more than 4,000 lenders had made the switch to its platform. Kelly Wagman, CMO of Finance Lobby, agreed to talk to us about why her company has been able to do what others have not: solve the problem of inefficiency in the CRE financing marketplace.

“I think we have been successful because our primary goal has always been to draw a straight line between a broker who is looking for specific terms and a lender who matches them,” says Kelly. “Once we established that, it was about sitting down, brainstorming what we needed to make that happen, and programming those capabilities into our platform.”

Another key behind the success of Finance Lobby is that its solutions are designed and priced for smaller companies and individuals. “This has been crucial,” she states. “The difference between their needs and those of a large company are too many for them to all use the same technology. There was also the reality that much of that tech was still being tested, so implementing it wasn’t as simple as a person turning on their computer, going through a short tutorial, and getting started with their workday.”

Kelly explains that Finance Lobby looked at the CRE industry, saw the gaps in services that were causing commercial real estate professionals so much frustration even with all the ongoing investment, and implemented an agile, targeted solution. “We are making the work lives of lenders and brokers a lot easier,” she says. “We are filling a real need, as evidenced by the more than 100 new users we see every day.”

To understand what Finance Lobby is doing for CRE professionals, Kelly gives the example of a broker in Los Angeles and a lender in Seattle. “Each is exactly what the other is looking for,” she says. “The broker has a client whose desired financing terms match what the lender is seeking and vice versa. In the past, however, how could they find each other? Yes, it was possible that they could, of course, but not without a lot of phone calls and some luck. More than likely, they never connected, so that perfect deal was not made. The broker got terms that didn’t satisfy their client, and the lender missed out on a great opportunity.”

Finance Lobby’s CRE financing marketplace, Kelly states, connects the two much faster and more efficiently. “Both sides have the ability to enter their perfect terms into their search criteria, which has the added benefit of filtering out the irrelevant deals. Our algorithms match CRE lenders and borrowers only when the deal matches their terms. Yes, there will still be soft quotes, but those are more targeted, which is a real time-saver.”

Lenders get exposure to every deal in their market and can directly communicate with brokers. Brokers eliminate much of the back and forth while still getting thousands of eyes on a loan request. 

“These capabilities can only lead to increased efficiency and productivity,” says Kelly. “Imagine the energy and optimism you’re going to feel at work each day, knowing that each time you reach out to a broker or lender, you have more potential to get the deal you’re after. That’s the power that Finance Lobby puts in your hands: one platform that targets the problems that have frustrated you for years and solves them.”

For more information about Finance Lobby, please see the company’s website at https://financelobby.com/ or contact it at hello@financelobby.com.