Writing a Loan Program Borrowers Find

A loan program on LenderMatrix is a set of criteria: what you lend on, how much, where, and on what terms. Borrowers filter by those criteria and are matched against them. A program with clear, complete criteria is found by the right borrowers and skipped by the wrong ones, which is the whole point. This guide is about writing one that works.

Start With the Deal You Want

Before filling in fields, describe the loan you would most like to close next month: the asset, the size, the borrower, the geography. Now write the program so that deal matches every criterion and a deal you would decline misses at least one. If a criterion does not change your decision, leave it blank rather than inventing a limit.

The Fields That Drive Matching

1. Category and loan type. Commercial real estate or business, then the specific type. This is the first filter every borrower applies.
2. Minimum and maximum loan. Be honest about the minimum. A $250,000 request to a lender whose real floor is $2 million wastes both sides’ time and hurts your response rate.
3. Where you lend. Nationwide, or a list of states. Counties are optional detail.
4. Property types or industries. Leave a list empty to accept any; list exclusions for the ones you never touch.
5. Leverage and coverage. Maximum LTV or LTC, minimum DSCR. Borrowers see whether their deal clears these before they contact you.
6. Indicative rates and terms. A range is more useful than nothing. It is shown as indicative and subject to underwriting.
7. Time to close. Borrowers with a deadline filter on this.

What Completeness Does

Matching can only count what you have filled in. A program with eight criteria produces eight lines of “matched” or “not matched” on a borrower’s screen; a program with three produces three, and the match looks thinner next to a fuller one. The editor shows a completeness figure; aim for 70% or more.

Write the Description for a Skimmer

Borrowers read the description after the criteria. Say in two or three sentences what makes the program different: speed, flexibility on a specific point, an industry you know well. Leave out anything a reader would call marketing. Do not repeat the criteria in prose; they are already on the page.

Keep It True

Programs change. Pause a program when you stop taking that kind of loan rather than leaving it live; a borrower who is declined for being outside a box you no longer use will not come back. Update rates when they move. The pipeline shows how often borrowers reach you through each program, which tells you which ones are earning their place.

A Template Is a Starting Point

The editor offers starter templates by loan type. They carry typical criteria for that product so you are not typing every field from scratch. Replace every figure with your own before publishing; a template is the shape of a program, not a market survey.