Working to a deadline? Auction completions and chain breaks are what this desk does. Call and we will tell you today whether it is achievable.
020 4525 4876We are brokers, not a lender. Here is exactly what that means in practice, what we do at each stage, what we need from you, and what it costs.
Timings are indicative and depend on the lender, the valuer and the solicitors involved. The stages themselves do not change.
We find out what the deal actually is: the property, the purpose, the amount you need, the timescale and — the part lenders care about most — how it will be repaid. This takes one conversation, and you can start it through the Deal Finder without typing anything.
What we need from you: Tell us the deal honestly, including anything awkward. We would rather hear about a county court judgment now than have a lender find it at underwriting.
We check whether it is viable: loan to value against the security, the credibility of the exit, your experience with this kind of project, and your credit position. If it does not stack up, we tell you at this point rather than three weeks and a valuation fee later.
What we need from you: Nothing. This is our job, and there is no charge for it.
This is where most of the value sits. We build the file a lender needs to underwrite from: identification, proof of deposit, evidence of the exit, a schedule of works, a development appraisal, company documents. A complete file gets a decision; an incomplete one gets a queue.
What we need from you: Send us the documents on the checklist. The faster this happens, the faster everything after it happens.
We approach the lenders on our panel whose criteria genuinely fit — not simply the one paying the most, and not simply the first to say yes. We negotiate rate, arrangement fee, term and exit fee, and we come back to you with the options rather than a single take-it-or-leave-it quote.
What we need from you: Choose between the options. We will explain the trade-offs, including the ones that are not obvious from the headline rate.
The lender issues terms or a decision in principle. We go through it with you line by line, including the fees that are easy to miss: telegraphic transfer fees, administration charges, exit fees and the valuation cost.
What we need from you: Confirm you are happy to proceed, and pay the valuation fee directly to the valuer or lender.
We instruct the valuation immediately and coordinate solicitors on both sides. This is normally the critical path, and it is where cases stall — searches, title queries, a valuer who cannot get access. We chase all of it daily rather than waiting to be updated.
What we need from you: Give your solicitor everything they ask for quickly, and make sure the property is accessible for the valuer.
Funds are released to your solicitor and the transaction completes. You receive a summary of the facility: the balance, the term, what is payable and when, and the date the loan must be repaid.
What we need from you: Diarise the repayment date. Then start work on the exit immediately — not in month ten of a twelve-month term.
A bridge is only as good as the way out of it. Where your exit is a refinance, we arrange that too and start it early enough to complete before the term ends. Where it is a sale, we will tell you when it is time to review the price rather than the deadline.
What we need from you: Keep us informed if anything changes. Problems raised in month three have solutions. The same problem in month twelve often does not.
There are three separate costs in a specialist finance deal, and they are often blurred together. They should not be.
Our bridging calculator includes all three, so the total cost of borrowing it shows is the real total rather than the lender’s share of it. Open the calculator.
Our broker fee is 1.5% of the loan. It is disclosed in writing before you commit to anything and appears in our calculator, so the total cost you see includes what we are paid.
Where a lender pays a commission on a completed case, it is disclosed to you in writing alongside our own fee, before you commit. You should be able to see both sides of how any broker is paid, and if you are ever not shown that, ask.
A decline from one lender is not the end of a deal. We will tell you why it was declined and whether another lender on the panel takes a different view. What we will not do is keep resubmitting a case that genuinely does not work.
You can, and for a simple deal with a mainstream lender that may be the right answer. In specialist finance, most lenders work primarily through intermediaries, criteria shift constantly, and a case presented badly gets declined on its presentation rather than its merits.
Packaging and the valuation drive the timetable far more than the lender does. A complete file submitted on day one moves considerably faster than one assembled as it goes, and we will give you an honest view of your specific case at the first conversation rather than a headline figure.
A specialist reviews your deal free of charge and comes back with what is realistically achievable.
Amram Finance Ltd is a credit broker, not a lender. We do not lend our own money and we do not approve or issue loan offers.
Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a loan secured on it. Some forms of bridging finance and buy-to-let lending are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.