For most churches the largest financial transaction that most of the members have ever experienced is the purchase or building of a new church building. For those who are the decision makers in the process, one of the most daunting tasks they have is dealing with the responsibility to be a representative for the entire congregation. The reason this responsibility carries so much pressure is that the decisions that are made will likely determine the location of the church for up to three or four decades.

One of the most important tasks that the church will take on is selecting those who will help the church through this process. Many times a church will try and use real estate agents or bankers from inside of their church. The problem with hiring someone like this is that, most times, they are not specialists in the church field. Whether you are going to buy an existing building or you are going to build, it is important that you choose a team of church professionals, people that understand "CHURCH", church finance, and professionals that have a lot of experience in this process. Let me ask you a question. If you had a heart problem and needed to go to a doctor, would you go see a dentist? No, why not? But they are both doctors, right? But the dentist is not an expert in the field you need. You would go to a cardiologist, because that understands your problems.

In my initial meeting with church leaders I usually suggest that they find a church friendly lender in the very early stages of the process. It is crucial that you have a good understanding of your financial limits so you can shop accordingly. If the banker is on your team, ready to go, you put your church in a much better position to catch the great deals.

If you are planning to move in the next 24 - 36 months and you need to sell your current location in order to move, then you really need to put your building on market now. Most churches shy away of this idea because they want to find a building to buy first. But even if you find the perfect building, it will probably be gone by the time you sell your building so you can pay for the new one. Many times churches worry about selling their building and not finding a new one, leaving them homeless, but you can structure an agreement that will protect you from this situation.

The first step that many churches take in the relocation process is to find a building that they want and then they search for financing so that they can pay for it. The problem is that most of the time sellers or both land and buildings are not usually willing to wait for you to sell your building and put together a loan. In order to put yourself in the best position to get the best deal is to get you money in hand, including equity from your current building and any loans needed.

Most lenders do not understand "Church"; they can't look at you as a "personal account" so you fall under the commercial lending area. Most commercial concerns make a profit. Most churches don't. Lenders almost never foreclose on churches (bad public relations to be the bank that closed the church) so they have to qualify churches differently than most other commercial accounts. In my experience you are light years ahead of the game by working with lenders that understand church, and there are many that do. As mentioned above, it's best to deal with church professionals.

As you choose a lender you will be best served by talking to several and finding the right fit between you and the lender. This is normally a long relationship you are building so do so carefully.

Now you have narrowed the field to a small number of lenders that fit you, you are ready to begin the application process. In this process you will learn from the lenders how much they can loan you. That information plus the equity and any campaign funds you have collected will allow you to make offers in confidence. That confidence is important to the sellers you will be working with.

Typically most lenders will want to see that you have 25% - 35% equity in the new property. This is just a guide, although it is seldom less, it could be more. Many churches will run a capital campaign. Some will do it themselves, "in house", others will use professional fund raising companies. In my experience the lenders prefer the professionals for two reasons. One, the professional campaign will usually yield 2 - 3 times the amount of money the "in house" campaign will and secondly the actual amount collected will be higher. Again it is a good idea to speak with a few professional companies to find a good fit for your church.

So, as in all things prayer is crucial, planning every step along the way and the assistance of church professionals, those who have completed several church projects in the past year, is highly recommended. Follow these simple basic steps and you should have a very successful relocation project. In our next article we will discuss some of the financial options available for you to choose from.