Commercial real estate (CRE) deals rarely fall apart because the property is wrong. More often, the problem is timing.
Investors who move the quickest are usually the ones who win the deal, yet financing is often the obstacle that kills the momentum. Earnest money deposits (EMD), in particular, are a growing problem for buyers who are short on capital or have it tied up in other deals.
This funding gap has led to specialized EMD financing providers like Duckfund to step in and cover deposits at the earliest stage of the transaction.
Its answer is simple: move faster. Its platform takes investors from accepted offer to funded deposit in just 48 hours, before a rival bidder gets the chance to react.
The growing need for EMD funding
Most CRE transactions now require an EMD deposit to be in place when the buyer signs the purchase agreement. If you’re buying, this shows the seller that you’re committed before going on to due diligence and fixing long-term financing.
Rising prices, especially in competitive markets, mean that these deposits can often reach six figures or more – a sum large enough to cause friction to most investors managing multiple deals.
Many buyers are turning to progressive EMD funding solutions like Duckfund because they’re designed to cover the deposit through a short-term financing structure. They wire funds directly into escrow within 48 hours so you, as the investor, can keep your capital free for your own use.
This type of targeted financing is becoming more common. Alternative non-bank lenders now account for around 37% of the commercial mortgage market, according to CBRE, a shift that has created space for specialized funding models like deposit financing.
How Duckfund helps investors move faster
Traditional lenders tend to spread their focus across many different product ranges, which often dilutes the quality of their service. Duckfund, on the other hand, does just one thing and excels at it – providing earnest money deposits for CRE transactions.
Their model is built on speed. It starts with a short online application that includes the purchase agreement and deposit amount. Once approved, Duckfund wires the funds within 48 hours.
Such a quick turnaround is vital at the deposit stage, which is where many deals collapse. Buyers must pass through it swiftly and put it under contract so they can get on with finalizing other sources of capital.
“To start looking for equity investors, the buyer needs to put the deal under contract,” explains Anna Kogan, Duckfund’s founder. “LPs (Limited Partners) normally do not engage in conversations when the property is not tied up yet.”
With the deposit covered, buyers can first secure the property, then bring investors into the reckoning.
The need for speed
Hot CRE markets put everything on fast forward, so it’s often who moves fastest that gets to control the property.
Buyers need to stand out from a crowd of interest, so a swiftly placed funded deposit can win sellers over.
“I truly believe that having an instrument at hand which gives customers access to capital within 48h is a competitive advantage,” says Anna Kogan.
Negotiations might drag on, but the transaction can quickly move ahead once the parties agree on terms. A buyer with a ready supply of funding can respond quickly to this and secure the property before a rival bidder has the chance to move in.
The escrow advantage
Many lenders simply provide capital, but leave buyers on their own when dealing with escrow. Mistakes, however, can happen.
It’s common, for example, for investors to accept an escrow facility that is set up to favor the seller because they just want to get the deal done. That’s when refund conditions, buried in the contract, can become a serious problem if anything goes wrong.
If a dispute arises, a non-neutral escrow agent can delay or complicate the release of funds.
Duckfund provides a carefully built neutral escrow structure that is designed to prevent these problems and unnecessary waste of money.
Duckfund: Built for the way CRE deals actually work
Most financing tools are built for the middle of a deal. Duckfund is built for the beginning: the moment when speed matters most and hesitation costs the most.
CRE investors who’ve watched a high-quality property slip away while waiting for capital know the cost of this too well, which is why Duckfund’s logic is simple and effective: get to the front of the queue by providing a fully funded deposit within 48 hours.
EMD financing won’t stop a bad deal, but it can stop a good one from collapsing for the wrong reasons. That’s where Duckfund comes into its own: earnest money deposit funding that moves at the speed of opportunity, so the only deals that slip away are the ones you chose to walk away from.
