The client mentioned a building. You said yes. Here is exactly what happens between that yes and funding, and what you need to do at each step.
Written by A.I.M.I. Collective Mortgage Group, Brokerage editorial team
Published September 2026 · Last reviewed 11 September 2026
Most brokers lose a commercial file in the first 48 hours, not at the lender. They ask the client for the wrong documents, promise a timeline they cannot keep, or refer it away because they do not know what happens next. This guide is the sequence at A.I.M.I. Collective from the moment a commercial opportunity appears to the day it funds, written for a broker who has never run one. If you have a file on your desk right now, start at step one tonight.
Ask five things: what is the property, what is the purchase price or current value, what does it earn (or what does the business earn if owner occupied), who is the borrower and their net worth, and when does it need to close. Do not quote a rate. Say: I will have an underwriter look at this within a day.
In the portal, category commercial (or multi family, mixed use, construction, land, agriculture), purpose, the five answers above, and whatever documents you already have. Tick whether the underwriter may contact the borrower directly or works through you. Live files are reviewed within 24 hours.
You get a view on three things: is it fundable, which lender types will read it, and what is missing. Often the answer is a structure you had not considered: a longer amortisation, an insured route, a vendor take back, a second mortgage. This is also when the fee and split conversation happens, before any work starts.
You collect the property and borrower pack: rent roll, operating statements, leases, net worth statement, corporate financials. The underwriter tells you which items that lender will insist on first. Paid clients send documents; a signed engagement letter goes here.
The lender issues a discussion paper or term sheet: amount, rate, term, amortisation, fees, conditions. You walk the client through it. This is the moment the client decides, so the underwriter briefs you on what to expect before you present.
Appraisal from the lender's approved AACI list, Phase 1 environmental, building condition assessment where required. The borrower pays, the lender orders, you chase. Budget three to five weeks.
The lender issues a commitment with conditions. The underwriter tracks them with you; head office processing handles the paperwork. Legal instructions go to the lawyer.
The lawyer funds, the brokerage fee is paid from trust, your share arrives on the next statement. The client is yours for the renewal and the next building.
You do, unless you choose otherwise at submission. The Deal Desk can work through you on every step, or contact the borrower directly for the technical conversations while you stay broker of record. Either way the client remains yours, and so does the renewal.
Bring it to the Deal Desk for structuring and lender placement, and learn on the deal without losing it.
Commercial is mostly borrower paid: a brokerage fee commonly 0.5 to 1 percent of the loan on conventional files, higher on private and construction, set in an engagement letter and paid at funding. The brokerage share and the Deal Desk share are agreed before work starts. On a first file, a share of a funded deal beats all of a declined one; by the third file most brokers are structuring their own. Read how commercial brokers get paid.
Conventional commercial files take 45 to 90 days from submission. CMHC insured multi family runs longer, often three to four months. A client who needs to close in 30 days is a private or bridge file, and the Deal Desk will say so on day one rather than let you find out on day 25. Read the deal types for what each asset class needs, and why the second file is easier than the first.
Commercial is a pillar here, not a specialty someone dabbles in. The Deal Desk structures and places the commercial, B and alternative files you would otherwise refer away, while you stay the client's point of contact. It works in exchange for a commission split on that file, it is optional, and it is your call file by file.
There is no separate commercial licence. How residential mortgage agents move into commercial files: the skills, the lenders, how pay works and support.
Why commercial files are the fastest lever for a residential broker at $10 to $30 million, where the files already sit in your book, and how to start.
A practical path for residential brokers into commercial mortgages: which deals to start with, what lenders need and how an underwriting desk helps.
Multi family, mixed use, owner occupied, construction, land and agriculture: what each deal type needs, typical LTV and DSCR, and who lends on it.
Book a discovery call and bring it. We will tell you on the call whether it places, with which lender types, and what to send the client tonight.