Private Lender Expo Shows The State of Real Estate Investing Industry

“We’re here because we’re looking to see if we can branch into real estate lending,” said Porsche Brooks, CEO of Brooks Partners Finance, a company that provides a suite of funding services that include both MCAs and SBA loans.

Brooks was one of many that attended the Private Lender Expo in Atlantic City on Thursday, where financiers, developers and more talked heavily about apartment complex and suburb-centric commercial real estate development.

“There are opportunities here,” said Brooks. “We’re really looking to expand.”

While there was evidence of fintech making its way through the space, companies providing document-digitizing software were hesitant to label themselves as fintech companies.

A representative from CoStar, a technology-centric real estate information company, called themselves “fintechy” but made it clear that they are only looking to function within the current space, not revolutionize it.

Those who hosted booths at the event showed little interest in expanding business operations into small business financing as a way to grow their lending options. As real estate investments continue to pay hefty dividends, lenders who focus on that area aren’t looking to dilute their effort into other ventures.

“Small business lending can be such a headache,” said one real estate investment company representative when asked if they would ever venture outside of their investment property exclusivity into funding merchants. “The amount of money in real estate right now is evident all around us. There’s always a lot of people at stuff like this that will give you a million dollars, but now this stuff is becoming all real estate.”