Loans will be made or arranged pursuant to California Financing Law.
Rubicon Mortgage Fund, LLC. CFL 6053884
Rubicon Realty Advisors, Inc. CFL 6053885. NMLS ID: 2257291
Private money financing for California self-storage and mini-storage facilities, underwritten on the property rather than the rent roll.
Self-storage is a business wrapped in a building, and that is exactly what makes conventional financing awkward.
Occupancy moves month to month. Revenue depends on management quality rather than long leases. And a great many California facilities are family-built and family-run, with financials to match.
Rubicon Mortgage Fund underwrites the facility and its position in the market. We lend our own capital, in-house, without an appraisal.
A bank sizes a commercial loan against contracted income. In storage there is none. A facility with 692 units has 692 month-to-month agreements, any of which can end with a notice. Underwriters trained on lease terms have nothing to anchor to.
The flip side is what makes the asset class attractive: income is diversified across hundreds of tenants rather than concentrated in one, and rates can be raised across the book far faster than any lease would allow. But that is a story about management, not about contracts, and it does not fit a credit memo.
Two identical facilities across the road from each other can perform very differently depending on rate management, occupancy discipline, online presence, and how quickly delinquent units are cleared. When a facility professionalises, often by bringing in third-party management, revenue can move materially.
That transition costs money before it shows up in the financials a bank wants to see.
Many California storage facilities were built by their owners decades ago and run informally since. The property may be excellent and largely debt-free, and the tax returns still will not support a conventional loan.
We underwrite the property.
Rubicon funded a $3,200,000 refinance on a 692-unit storage facility in Stockton at 63% LTV.
The owner’s family had built the units and the office building themselves in 2005 and run the facility ever since. The loan replaced existing debt and funded improvements being made under an agreement with a nationally flagged management company. That is exactly the professionalisation step described above, and exactly the kind of spend that has to happen before the numbers justify it.
Conservative leverage, a real asset, a clear plan, and an owner who knew the property better than anyone. That is a straightforward loan for us and a difficult one for a bank.
Someone from Rubicon visits every property before we lend on it. For a storage facility that means walking the rows and looking at the doors, not reading a summary.
Yes. Under-occupied and under-rented facilities are a normal part of what we see. We underwrite the property and the plan rather than trailing income.
No. It is common in owner-run storage and it is not a disqualifier. We are lending against the real estate.
Yes. The Stockton loan did exactly that, replacing debt and funding improvements under a new management agreement in one transaction.
No, and we do not run credit. Someone from Rubicon inspects the facility in person.
Rubicon lends from $500,000 to $15,000,000, in 1st position, statewide across California.
Most borrowers have a quote within 24 hours, and closings frequently happen inside 30 days.
Rubicon Mortgage Fund, LLC is a direct private money lender financing commercial real estate across California since 2008, with more than $650 million funded. To discuss a storage facility, call (925) 283-8919 or email info@rubiconfund.net.
See our borrowers and lending criteria and our funded loan portfolio.
Rubicon Mortgage Fund, LLC is California's premier direct private money lender for commercial real estate. In-house underwriting. No appraisals. Initial response typically within 24 hours.
(925) 283-8919