The 5-Minute Commercial Deal Triage That Saves Brokers Hours
Not every commercial file deserves oxygen. The brokers who win in this space aren’t the ones chasing everything — they’re the ones who know what to kill early. If you don’t have a fast triage process, you’ll burn nights underwriting deals that were never financeable, annoy lenders with garbage submissions, and slowly wreck your credibility.
A disciplined “5-minute triage” protects your time, your brand, and your lender relationships. Here’s how to run it like a pro.
Why Commercial Deal Triage Matters
In residential, you can afford to take a shot. In commercial, you can’t.
Every weak file you send to a lender chips away at your reputation. Lenders remember who sends them clean deals and who wastes their time. Once you get labelled as the latter, your emails get slower replies and your files get less attention. That’s the reality.
A strong triage system helps you:
Eliminate non-starters fast
Focus on financeable deals
Protect lender relationships
Look competent in front of clients
Close more with less effort
Bottom line: triage is a revenue skill, not an admin task.
The 5-Minute Commercial Deal Triage Framework
This isn’t a deep underwriting session. This is a fast, structured filter to determine whether a deal deserves a full analysis.
If it fails here, you either fix it or walk away.
1. Borrower Reality Check
Before numbers, check the human.
Key questions:
Do they have commercial experience?
Net worth roughly aligned with loan size?
Liquidity for down payment + closing costs?
Credit disasters hiding in the background?
If the borrower has zero experience, no capital, and a 550 score — don’t waste time building pro formas. You’re not a miracle worker.
You’re looking for credibility and capacity.
Pass signal: Experienced or coachable borrower with realistic expectations
Fail signal: “I have no money but want a $5M building”
2. Asset Quality Snapshot
Not all properties are equal. Some are lender candy. Some are landfill.
Ask:
What type of asset? (multi-res, industrial, retail, mixed-use)
Location strength?
Occupancy level?
Condition and age?
Environmental risks?
A fully leased multi-tenant industrial building in a major market is easy.
A vacant rural hotel with deferred maintenance is not.
You’re asking: Will lenders like this asset at all?
If the property itself is weak, financing becomes a niche play.
3. Numbers at 30,000 Feet
You don’t need a full spreadsheet yet. You need quick math.
Check these immediately:
Purchase price or value
Net operating income (NOI)
Loan requested
Down payment available
From this, you can estimate:
Loan-to-value (LTV)
Debt service coverage ratio (DSCR)
Debt yield
If the DSCR is 0.85 and the borrower wants 80% LTV, that’s dead on arrival at most lenders.
A quick back-of-napkin test:
If this doesn’t roughly hit 1.20–1.25 DSCR with realistic leverage, it’s likely not a bank deal.
No need to build a 15-tab spreadsheet yet.
4. Deal Narrative & Exit Logic
Commercial lenders finance stories backed by numbers.
Ask:
Why is the borrower buying?
What’s the business plan?
Stabilized or turnaround?
Refi or hold strategy?
If the borrower can’t clearly explain the strategy, lenders won’t get comfortable either.
You’re looking for:
Clear plan
Realistic assumptions
Logical exit
If the story sounds like a YouTube investment fantasy, pause.
5. Lender Fit Check
Before you dive deeper, ask:
Who would realistically fund this?
Think in buckets:
Big banks
Credit unions
Monoline commercial lenders
Private lenders
CMHC programs
If you can’t name at least two plausible lender types after five minutes, the deal probably isn’t ready.
This step alone saves hours of wasted underwriting.
The Red Flag List (Walk Away Fast)
If you see these early, slow down:
Unrealistic valuation expectations
Borrower hiding information
No financials available
Zero equity
“I just need someone to send it to lenders”
Urgent closing with no preparation
You’re not obligated to chase chaos.
A bad deal wastes time you could spend closing a good one.
How This Protects Your Reputation
Lenders talk. Quietly, but constantly.
They know:
Who sends polished files
Who pre-screens deals
Who wastes inbox space
When you run tight triage, your submissions improve.
When your submissions improve, lenders trust you.
When lenders trust you, approvals get easier.
That’s the game.
Client Positioning: Look Like an Advisor, Not a Messenger
Triage isn’t just internal. It’s client-facing positioning.
Instead of saying:
“Let me send this out and see what happens…”
Say:
“I’m going to run a quick financing viability check before we move forward.”
Instant credibility.
Your 5-Minute Triage Checklist
Before committing time, confirm:
Borrower capacity
Asset quality
Rough DSCR/LTV
Clear deal story
Lender path
If it passes, go deeper.
If it fails, fix it or decline.
Simple. Ruthless. Effective.
Where Most Brokers Get It Wrong
They over-analyze weak deals.
They under-screen early.
They chase everything.
Commercial rewards discipline.
The best brokers aren’t busy — they’re selective.
Take Action
If you’re serious about closing commercial deals consistently, you need systems — not guesswork.
Inside my training, I walk brokers through real deal triage, lender targeting, and submission strategy so you’re not learning the hard way in front of lenders.
If you want to tighten your process and start handling commercial files with confidence, connect with me and let’s talk about getting you properly trained.
Because in commercial, reputation compounds. And it starts with what you choose to work on.
