The SBL Space Presents Abundant Opportunity

Jackson: “SBL is a niche that if you do it well and set your processes and technology up to be a good player, you can do well; if not, it’s a hard business.”

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—The small-business-loan sector continues to be an exciting and underserved market today, for many of the same reasons that banks have not met their historical loan amounts, Sabal Capital Partners’ CEO Pat Jackson tells GlobeSt.com. Sabal closed $1 billion in multifamily small-balance loans this year through Freddie Mac’s SBL program and recently closed three portfolio transactions: a $65.5-million portfolio of 20 refinance loans for apartment properties in California, a $51.5-million portfolio of 10-year fixed-rate loans for apartment properties in Missouri, an $8.3-million portfolio of five-year hybrid loans on eight properties in Illinois and a $129-million portfolio of 34 refinance loans for multifamily workforce properties in the Bronx—the largest single transaction closed through Freddie’s SBL program.

We spoke with Jackson about the Freddie Mac SBL program, how he would characterize the health of small-balance loans and his expectations for 2018 in the financing realm.