I attended the IMN Real Estate CFO Forum in New York, NY and moderated a panel on restructures and refinancing this morning.
The major takeaways of the panel:
- Now is the time to address problem assets as conditions are better than they have been in the past or are likely to be in the future
- Banks are more likely to address deeply distressed assets that are approaching maturity than they have been in the past because their balance sheets are in significantly better condition than they have been in years past
- However, there is still no regulatory pressure on lenders to move bad assets
Therefore, it is up to owners to convince lenders that it is in the lender’s best interest to address problem assets now. At some point the Federal Reserve will slow quantitative easing and interest rates will begin to rise, creating a more difficult environment for restructure and refinance. Now is the time to act.
To learn more about the CFO Forum and restructures and refinancing, contact Steve Spall at(sspall@tcamre.com) or (617) 542-1200 at TCAM.