Commercial lenders include commercial banks, mutual companies, private lending institutions, hard money lenders and other financial groups. These lenders typically have widely varying standards on which they base their loan criteria and evaluate potential borrowers-- but are often focused exclusively on the private market and have more lenient financial qualifications than banks.

Commercial lenders specialize in hard money and bridge loans, often those that close quickly, in as little as two weeks. The commercial loan industry is most often accessed through brokers, who provide an evaluation of a borrower and then recommend the loan to a number of different commercial lenders whom they feel will be most likely to fund the borrower's request. Going through a broker rather than directly through a lender may cause longer wait times for loan financing and more up-front fees.

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