Billboard Loans Blog

Billboard Lending

Billboard Loan Fees

Here’s a rundown on the kinds of fees your can expect to pay when you borrow money to finance a billboard. Loan Fee – This is typically 1-2% of the loan amount. It is paid at closing to compensate a lender for the time spent to underwrite a loan. Banks […]

Billboard Lending

Billboard Loan Repayment Terms

I have seen billboard loan amortization rates as short a 5 years and as long as 20 years. 5-7 year amortization is not unusual with bank or lease financing. It is have for many small billboard companies to completely pay off their debt in 5 years. 10-20 years amortization is […]

Billboard Lending

Can I Get 100% Debt Financing

I wish I had a dollar for every request I get for 100% debt financing for a billboard. Lenders don’t make 100% loans against anything. They want to know there’s cushion in the collateral in case something goes wrong. Next time you decide you need to do 100% financing for […]

Billboard Values

What are my billboards worth?

Borrowers are constantly asking me what their signs are worth.  My rule of thumb is that billboards are worth 4-6 times annualized gross revenues.  The transactions which I have financed over the last 10 years have occurred at multiples ranging from 3 to 6 times gross revenue with a median […]

Billboard Lending

How Much Can I Borrow

3 times annualized revenues is a reasonable debt limit for most small billboard companies. Here’s why. I tell borrowers to limit debt to at a level where their plant will be worth more than debt even if revenues drop and multiples contract during a recession. Industry revenues declined 20% during […]

Billboard Lending

The Due Diligence Visit

Here’s a short list of information your billboard lender will want to review during a due diligence visit.: Bank statements – I like to verify financial statement revenues and expenses against bank statements. Copies of sign permits and operating leases. Copies of customer ad contracts. Evidence that state and property […]

Billboard Lending

The initial billboard loan package

Here’s a list of information which your lender will find helpful in reviewing your initial billboard loan request. I’ve listed things in order of importance to the lender. 1. Monthly company balance sheet and income statement for the last two years. I find monthly statements helpful because many billboard companies […]

Billboard Lending

The Lending Process

Here’s how the billboard lending process works. I tell clients to expect the process to take approximately one month for the introductory phone call to funding. It can take as short as two weeks when the borrower is extremely organized and the credit is clean and as long as several […]