Last year, Sims Mortgage Funding took its consulting and financial advisory services to new heights. How high? Our work assisting clients navigate through the HUD regulatory and programmatic maze in purchasing healthcare properties exceeded our origination activities, which took us 5,000 miles west to Hawaii and closer to home in Pennsylvania, where we completed a third refinancing for a client.
The HUD LEAN Section 232 mortgage insurance program for skilled nursing and assisted living/memory care facilities had a strong performance in Fiscal Year 2019, which ended on September 30. They issued $4.154 billion in mortgage insurance commitments for 314 projects and closed $3.733 billion in insured loans for 288 projects.
One of the many positive features of HUD-insured loans is that they have attractive interest rates, driven largely by the Federal Government backing and the ability to securitize the debt through the GNMA.
Originating and underwriting HUD-insured loans for multifamily and healthcare projects is Sims Mortgage Funding's primary activity, but sometimes our experience and success in that space leads us to other business opportunities.
HUD mortgage insurance covers a wide variety of real estate, ranging from multifamily housing to nursing homes and assisted living to acute care hospitals. Moreover, the programs cover construction, renovations, expansions, acquisitions, and refinancing.
SMF had a busy first quarter of 2019, as it added a new team member in late January and participated in national and regional lender conferences in February and March.