Wells Fargo Opens New Multi-Family Capital Office in Houston

Wells Fargo & Co. has expanded its multi-family financing services with a new office in Houston and the hiring of a mortgage originator there. Tony Talamas has joined Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital to focus on the origination of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan programs for clients in Texas and surrounding states.  “With the CMBS market and other lending sources either unwilling or unable to lend at competitive terms, if at all, my group continues to offer attractive rates, terms and flexible financing solutions. The opening of a new Texas office in Houston, reflects a positive outlook for the Houston market and Texas as a whole. It’s also a clear indication of Wells Fargo’s long-term commitment to our multifamily clients as we position ourselves to offer apartment owners more financing options, especially in such a challenging credit environment,” Talamas, a commercial mortgage originator, told CPN. In an economy where commercial real estate projects and investors are tending to pause before moving forward, multi-family is thriving. “Multi-family can move forward because lenders are able to do multi-family deals and sell them to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and get them off their books,” Robert Baron, president of American Real Estate Executive Search Co., told CPN. “The market is shut down for commercial projects on conduit lending, but multi-family is sort of the darling because you can generate volume and activity. At this point, if the deals qualify, you can still secure it through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” Baron said a number of lenders are following the lead of Wells Fargo by beefing up their multi-family staff. “In a number of markets around the country, the offices are all multi-family guys,” Baron said. “It gives them something to do when you would be sending home originators doing traditional deals.” Wells Fargo has an array of multi-family financing products, such as the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs that are in such demand, according to Wells Fargo information about the Houston office. In Houston, Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital is located at 1021 Main Street, Suite 2402 – an office shared by Wells Fargo’s Real Estate Merchant Banking Group, a division that provides structured mortgage products from interim/bridge debt to mezzanine financing. Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital specializes in providing permanent financing for multi-family properties, healthcare facilities, and affordable housing using the programs of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and conduits. Wells Fargo is a national leader in commercial real estate with more than $70 billion in originations annually and 50 offices nationwide. American Real Estate Executive Search Co. is a national firm dedicated to executing senior level searches in the real estate industry. The companys has offices in New York, Chicago and Toronto.