Firm Links Businesses to Low Rates

With one foot on Wall Street and one on Main Street, Financial Funding LLC has been helping New Jersey businesses strike better terms when financing commercial real estate. Those terms can translate into tens of thousands of dollars a year in savings, allowing businesses to lower their overhead and invest in their future.
    “The key is a favorable interest-rate environment for commercial borrowers,” says Richard Tretsky, who started in mortgage banking in 1966. “Rates are at the lowest rates I’ve ever seen.”
     Unlike residential lenders that have all but shut off the spigot, commercial lenders have kept doing business. “You read nightmarish stories about people trying to get a residential mortgage, but that doesn’t really exist in the commercial sector,” Tretsky says.
     In fact, Financial Funding is handling a growing volume of business, primarily from companies refinancing to lower-rate loans. And because Financial Funding has direct access to investment banks and hedge funds, it can offer lower rates than its bank competitors, Tretsky says. “We borrow from Wall Street to lend on Main Street for all types of commercial financing.”
     The firm’s clientele represents the diversity of the Garden State’s commercial activity. Financial Funding lends to the owners of office buildings, apartment building, condominiums, shopping centers, and hotels and motels. “New Jersey is home to a wealth of commercial property types, all the way from older, mixed-use properties in the northern part of the state to new hotels and resorts in the southern part,” Tretsky says.

Financial Funding is literally in the middle of it all. Last year, the firm opened an office in Red Bank, putting its professionals within easy driving distance of any property in the state. The company also has an office on Wall Street, which gives it access to funding. It has satellite offices in Tampa, Fla., and Phoenix, Ariz. Although Financial Funding operates nationwide, more than half of its business transpires in New Jersey, Tretsky says. “New Jersey is our home, and our home base.”
     Tretsky founded Financial Funding in 1977 after spending 11 years at one of New Jersey’s then-largest mortgage lenders. He has been joined by his son, Todd, who spent five years working for hedge funds, and who has 12 years of experience in mortgage banking. “Todd’s background has helped us to diversify our funding stream and lock in even better rates for our clients,” Tretsky says.
     It’s not just attractive interest rates that reel in borrowers. Financial Funding also takes pride in offering outstanding customer service, backed by a team of experienced mortgage processors, underwriters and closers. Loans range in size from less than $1 million to $100 million. Most are between $8 million and $12 million, with rates hovering today around 4 percent.
     Clients are referred by a large and loyal network of attorneys, accountants and real estate agents. Some have been doing business with Financial Funding for nearly 40 years. “They know our track record and our performance,” Tretsky says. “So when they have a client that needs the type of financing we can deliver, they think of us first.”

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