Dan J. Harkey

Master Educator | Business & Finance Consultant | Mentor

Real Estate Finance

Real Estate Finance insights for owners, lenders, and real estate pros—rates, credit, underwriting, leverage, DSCR, cap rates, cash flow, and risk

Real Estate Finance is where deals either pencil—or they don’t. This category covers the money side of real estate: interest rates, credit markets, underwriting standards, leverage, debt service, DSCR, cap rates, cash flow, reserves, and risk. You’ll find practical insight on mortgage lending, private and complex money structures, refinance strategy, and how policy and market shifts quietly reprice assets. Expect clear explanations, real-world frameworks, and a little humor—because nothing reveals “reality” faster than a loan term

Search Results

Can You Acquire Property Subject to a Seller’s 3% Loan Without Notifying the Lender?

Most trust deeds and mortgage documents have an alienation clause, referred to as a due-on-sale clause, providing for an acceleration of the debt on the transfer of ownership

A Few Borrowers’ Withheld Material Facts Which Complicate the Loan Underwriting Process

Lenders rely on receiving all material facts available to make their credit assessment of the collateral property and the borrower. When information arrives in sketchy or inconsistent forms, it complicates the process.

AB-3108-Makes it a felony for any mortgage broker or loan originator to knowingly misrepresent the purpose of a loan.

This law, which focuses on making loans to single-family owners of occupied properties, tightens accusations of fraud by a mortgage broker while simultaneously inviting borrowers and hungry lawyers to sue the lender and mortgage broker for fraud. This recent law was signed by Governor Newsom in California, amends Section 4973 of the Financial Code.

Clear and Present Danger: When He Tried to “F” Over His Soon-To-Be Ex-Wife

Honey, I Didn’t Think You’d Mind!

Skin in the Game: Does the Principal Have Motivation to Perform?

Why It’s Essential in Real Estate Lending

What Condo and Multifamily Property Owners Need to Know in 2025

California’s SB-326 and SB-721:

Appraisers' Opinions of Values: All Are Not Equal

Some Appraisal Reports Are Useless

McMansion Blues: In Many Cases, The Transition Is Not Worth the Hassle

Inflationary Pressures Have “Come Home to Roost,” Where the Rising Cost of Property Taxes, Property Insurance, Association Dues, Capital Improvements, and Maintenance, added together, in Many Cases, Is More Than the Property Loan Payment.

Real Property Liens and Encumbrances: Recorded Claims Against Properties

Affecting Real Property Ownership

Make Profits Purchasing Promissory Notes Secured by Real Estate

Note purchases are a large, sophisticated industry designed for sophisticated investors, typically those who are accredited.

Investors Find Good Yields with Private Money Trust Deed and Mortgage Investments

Investing in trust deeds and mortgage investments is popular because the yields are high compared to similar investments, considering the associated risks, management, and time consumption.

“Skate By”: Means Sliding by Without Doing Any Visible Productive Work or Expending Any Effort.

Have you met people who accomplish little, make little, or no progress, but seem to meander through life and appear as normal?

SB-326 and SB-721: Condo and Multifamily Inspection Laws: California 2024

These two new inspection and repair laws have added significant expense to associations, which must be paid by raising association dues. Some owners cannot afford the increase in dues.

The Foreclosure Procedure: Judicial vs Non-judicial

Laws differ in various states; some are judicial, some are non-judicial, and others are hybrids, allowing either form of foreclosure.

Subordination of Liens and Encumbrances: Fact or Fiction.

“Yes, the lien holder will subordinate.” Is this statement true, or is it someone’s wishful illusion?

CEQA: A Major Hurdle for Real Property Development Projects in California Is Being Overhauled

Behind the backdrop of California regulations are always the usual suspects: public employees, labor unions, and lawyers who want a piece of everyone's action. These entities often use their influence to shape policies and regulations in their favor. Growth in the size of government, as well as the expansion and consolidation of power at the top, are always at the forefront.

Private Money: Real Estate Loan Documents and Related Disclosures

Real Estate Practitioners Should Gain a Comprehensive Understanding of the Loan Documentation To Carry Out Their Fiduciary Responsibilities to the Principals.

Private Money Trust Deed and Mortgage Investments

The investor’s name is affixed to the borrower’s promissory note, deed of trust, and title insurance policy; the investor serves as both the lender and the beneficiary. The documents represent clear evidence of ownership (or a security interest) in collateral property.

AB-130: How it Damages Subordinate Financing in California, for Residential Property

AB 130 was signed into law by Gavin Newsom on June 30, 2025

A Borrower Operates With Very Little Skin in the Game: Trying To Maximize Profits

Maximum Leverage May Be Beneficial To The Borrower or May Be Used to Transfer the Developer’s Risk to the Lender