Church Financing Guidelines

The following are general church loan guidelines which will be useful in planning your church construction, purchase, remodel, etc. Church loan scenarios vary so much from church to church it is important that you spend a few minutes together with us on the phone to fully analyze your needs.

The two most important areas of interest to the underwriter are income and collateral. The income figures are an indication of the church’s ability to repay the loan. An approximate guideline is that the church’s monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 35% of the undesignated tithe and offering income. Another way of looking at the same thing is to say that the loan amount should not exceed 3 to 3/1/2 times the annual undesignated income. With some of our programs income from daycare operations and schools are considered as well.

In addition to income the underwriter will also consider the collateral value when determining the possible loan amount. The mortgage debt should not exceed 70% of the value of the property being offered as collateral for the loan. This would indicate that a church buying a property would have to put 30% down. Call us to learn ways that a property purchase can be done with less down payment.