How brokers find equipment refinance opportunities

Equipment refinance and upgrade deals don't come from rate shoppers. They come from owners who are near the end of a loan and haven't decided what's next. The broker who reaches them first, with a specific reason, gets the deal. Public filings make that timing visible.

The three refinance moments

• Near the end of term. Equity has built up in the machine. The owner can buy it out, trade it in or pull cash out with a sale-leaseback.
• Just paid off. A recent termination filing means a free-and-clear machine the owner can borrow against.
• Growing fast. A business that has added several loans in two years is often cash-strapped. Consolidating them can lower the monthly payment.

Finding them in the filings

End of term: active filings for specific equipment 30 to 54 months old. 30,128 Colorado filings hit a 36, 48 or 60 month mark in the next six months.

Paid off: filings with a termination in the last six months. Of Colorado equipment filings made five to six years ago, 36% were terminated by the lender; many of those are payoffs.

Growing: businesses with two or more new equipment filings in the last 24 months, more than in the 24 before.

Reading the lender on the filing

The secured party tells you what you're competing against. A captive (Cat Financial, John Deere Financial, Kubota Credit) usually offered subsidized rates at purchase, so a refinance has to be about cash or flexibility, not rate. A bank may have tied the loan to a deposit relationship. An independent may have priced for weaker credit that has since improved, which is the easiest refinance of all. See captives vs banks vs independents.

What to say

Lead with the machine and the date: “You financed a 2022 Case 580 about four years ago. Most of those deals end at 48 months; are you planning to keep it or trade up?” More in how to call a business whose loan is ending.