Referral partners

Refer a client — your fee in writing, your client relationship left alone.

Fee arrangements documented in writing before a deal proceeds, your client relationship left alone, and a straight answer, typically within 24 hours — to them and to you. If your client owns real estate in one of the nine states we lend in and needs $100,000 to $10 million, send them our way.

Refer a clientSee how a referral runs
Since 1993Lending to business owners
10%+Of our own money invested in every loan we make
~24 hoursTo a straight answer from a real person, typically

How it works

Four steps, and you are kept in the loop on every one

The most common complaint about referring to a lender is going quiet — you hand over a client and never learn what happened. With your client’s okay, you are copied on the status of every response we send.

1

Send the deal

A name, the property, the amount, and what the money is for. Use your referral link or the partner form — it takes about a minute, and there is no portal to learn.

2

You both hear back

We come back with a straight answer, typically within 24 hours — to your client and to you. If it isn’t a fit, we say so in that same answer and point them toward where to go next rather than sitting on the file.

3

Term sheet

If it is a fit, your client has a term sheet typically within 5 business days — our rate, our fees, and your client’s terms in writing, before anyone signs anything.

4

Close

Funding typically around 10 days after an accepted term sheet, once diligence items are received. Your fee arrangement is documented before a deal proceeds and, if the loan funds, settles at closing.

Our referral policy

The fee, and what we protect in writing

The model only works when it works for everyone — the borrower, the investors who fund the loan, the partner who brought the deal, and us. So here is all of it, before you send us anyone.

  • Your fee. 1% of the funded loan amount, paid at closing. It is in addition to your brokerage commission on the sale — it does not come out of it. On a $1,000,000 loan that is $10,000 to you. Referral fees are paid only where, and to whom, applicable law allows, which varies by state, and we confirm it before you send us anything.
  • Your buyer is registered for 12 months. 12 months from the date you register the buyer. You register by emailing us the buyer’s name and the deal. The first broker to register gets credit, and we keep a record of every referral. If a buyer you registered closes any loan with us inside those 12 months, the fee is yours — whether or not it is the transaction you brokered.
  • When you get paid. The arrangement is documented in writing before a deal proceeds — a one-page broker referral agreement, not a verbal understanding revisited at the closing table — and it settles at closing if the loan funds. Nothing is owed by you at any point, and nothing is owed to you on a deal that doesn’t close.
  • Your client relationship. We are the capital, not a competitor for the relationship. We work the loan, not your client’s other business, and we don’t go around you.
  • Your client’s information. It goes to our own team. We don’t sell inquiries, and we don’t shop their file around. If a deal calls for a participation with another lender, we ask you and your client first.
  • Your reputation. The reason you can refer twice is that the first one went well. Your client gets a straight answer and plain terms, or we tell them where to go instead.

Sending a deal

Four things get you an answer

Nothing else is needed to start, and we never ask you for your client’s documents.

What to send

  • Your client’s name and how to reach them
  • The property — type, and which state it is in
  • Roughly how much they need, and what for
  • The deadline, if there is one
Send a deal

Want the credit on record from the first click?

Add your name or firm to any BuildUp link. No login, no portal.

https://www.buildup.capital/borrow?ref=your-firm-name

Most clients who arrive through it are tagged to you automatically, before a single form is filled out. Link tracking can’t survive private browsing or a switch of device, so tell us about the referral too — the written arrangement is what settles the fee, not the link. Prefer a clean code or a co-branded link? Tell us and we will set one up.

Who refers to us

If you see the deal early, you are the right partner

Deal intermediaries

Business brokers, commercial loan and mortgage brokers, M&A advisors, and commercial real estate brokers and agents.

Banks and SBA lenders

Community banks, credit unions, and SBA lenders — the Second Look program gives your declines somewhere to go.

CPAs and attorneys

Transaction, real estate, and restructuring attorneys, and CPAs whose clients need capital on a deadline.

Advisors and consultants

Wealth managers, turnaround consultants, and franchise consultants with clients who own real estate.

Title and escrow

Title officers, escrow officers, and 1031 intermediaries who see the deal before anyone else does.

Fellow lenders

Private and hard-money lenders with deals outside their own footprint or credit box — two-way referrals, and participations on property inside our nine states.

For banks and SBA lenders

The Second Look program

Before you decline a client to nowhere, send them to us. A decline is usually about the shape of the credit box, not the quality of the business — and a client you decline with a destination is a client who comes back to you for the next thing.

Complex is the work here rather than a problem. Our co-founder and Chief Investment Officer, Donna Cangelosi, is a court-appointed federal trustee and a specialist in complex real estate workouts — exactly the judgment restructuring attorneys and bankers want on a hard file. Your client gets a fast, honest answer either way, and we stay out of the relationship.

“A bank turning you down usually says more about the bank’s box than about your business. Complexity isn’t the same as weakness.”
— Donna Cangelosi, Co-Founder & Chief Investment Officer, BuildUp Capital

No surprises

What your client will actually experience

So nothing you have not already heard from us comes back to you from your client.

  • Terms in writing before signing. We state our rate, our fees, and their terms in the term sheet before they sign — and we tell them which third-party closing costs to expect.
  • An underwriting deposit after your client accepts the term sheet. Once your client accepts the term sheet, we collect an underwriting deposit before diligence begins, and it is credited toward their closing costs at closing. It exists so both sides are committing real resources to a deal we intend to close — the amount is stated in their term sheet before they sign anything.
  • Monthly payments, not daily drafts. These are interest-only monthly payments, and prepayment is allowed — if your exit comes early, you can repay early.
  • A real answer either way. If your client qualifies, they will know quickly. If they do not, we will help them understand where to go next.

Common questions

For referral partners

What is the referral fee, and how is it protected?
1% of the funded loan amount, paid at closing. It is in addition to your brokerage commission on the sale — it does not come out of it. On a $1,000,000 loan that is $10,000 to you. It is stated up front rather than negotiated after you have handed over the relationship, and paid only where, and to whom, applicable law allows. We document the arrangement in a one-page broker referral agreement before a deal proceeds, and it settles at closing if the loan funds. Nothing is owed by you at any point. Your relationship with your client stays yours — we are the capital, not a competitor for the relationship.
How long is my buyer registered to me?
12 months from the date you register the buyer. You register by emailing us the buyer’s name and the deal. The first broker to register gets credit, and we keep a record of every referral. If a buyer you registered closes any loan with us inside those 12 months, the fee is yours — whether or not it is the transaction you brokered. Buyers who get funded once tend to come back, and we would rather you keep sending them.
Are there industries you won’t lend to?
We care far less about the industry than about whether there is real estate behind the deal. Categories banks routinely avoid are usually fine here. The real constraint is collateral: if there is no real estate, inventory, equipment, or receivables in the deal, we are probably not the right lender.
What is the Second Look program?
A named path for banks and SBA lenders. Before you decline a client to nowhere, send them to us: we give a fast, straight answer, and we stay out of your relationship with that client whether or not we lend. Our co-founder and Chief Investment Officer is a court-appointed federal trustee and a specialist in complex real estate workouts, which is the judgment a hard file actually needs.
How fast will my client hear back?
A member of our team responds with a straight answer, typically within 24 hours, and we issue term sheets typically within 5 business days. We copy you on status with your client’s okay, so you are not left guessing where your own referral stands.
Will my client be asked to pay anything up front?
Once your client accepts the term sheet, we collect an underwriting deposit before diligence begins, and it is credited toward their closing costs at closing. It exists so both sides are committing real resources to a deal we intend to close — the amount is stated in their term sheet before they sign anything. Nothing is collected to look at a deal or to get an answer — the deposit comes only after your client has a term sheet in hand and has accepted it. We would rather you hear that from us now than from your client later.
What kind of deals should I send?
A business that owns real estate — commercial property, or a personal residence the owner chooses to pledge on a business-purpose loan — in Texas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Oklahoma, Idaho, Montana, or Wyoming, needing $100,000 to $10 million. Complex situations are welcome: multiple properties, a second lien behind a low-rate first, a partner buyout, a deadline the seller will not move. Receivables-backed lines and factoring we handle nationwide.
What happens if you decline my client?
We tell you both quickly and explain the reason. If another lender or another structure is the right answer, we say so. We would rather give you a fast, honest decline than a slow maybe — it is the version of us you can put in front of a client again.
Do you take participations from other lenders?
Yes. If a deal sits outside your own footprint or credit box, we look at two-way referrals with private and hard-money lenders, and at participations where the property is inside the nine states we lend in. Start the same way as any other referral and tell us what you are looking for.

Partner with us

Have a client who owns real estate and needs capital?

Send the deal. You and your client both hear back typically within 24 hours.

Refer a clientGive us a call