Adam Answers

Adam Meredith, president of AOPA Aviation Finance Company, is an aircraft finance professional with more than 15 years lending, small business management and customer service experience. Adam is a commercial pilot with multi-engine and instrument ratings.

QUESTION: What loan amount typically yields the best rates when it comes to aircraft financing?

ANSWER: As a generalization, rates are most competitive as the loan amount increases. In the owner flown segment, there are more or less 3 pricing tiers: Loans over $500k, over $75k and under $75k.

There are several other factors that can also help lower rate such as a shorter term (or amortization), floating rate structures, and putting more money down. Based on your specific loan request our Account Executives will be happy to discuss the options we have available.

QUESTION: How long does it take from start to finish to get an approval for a refinancing loan?

ANSWER: Once a completed application package is received, typical approval time is 2-3 business days. Closing can usually be completed in 4-5 business days thereafter. Depending on the complexity of your financial situation this timeframe could take longer.

QUESTION: In your article regarding aircraft financing rates, you state that “a big trading market” is one of the key metrics in determining what the interest rate will be.  Is this information generally available?  I would love to know how many P210s were sold last year and what the price distributions were (with all due respect to Vref).

ANSWER: Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, in the piston world this data is not commercially available in any quantifiable and easy to use format/database. The closest thing easily available is the demand rating provided by vRef. This looks at how long it takes to sell an aircraft and at what type of discount, if any. The range is AAA to C, similar to bond ratings, AAA is the best and C is the worst. In the case of the P210 demand rating is right in the middle at B (sold w/in 6-7 mths – no discount). As a point of reference most modern 172, 182 and 206’s are slightly better at BB (sold w/in 4-5 months – no discount). Furthermore, you can expect virtually the same interest rates and structure with P210s as with any modern piston Cessnas. 

If you really wanted to roll up your sleeves and look at data, the FAA database does provide a wealth of info, to which some inferences can be made, if you wanted to spend the time to research it. It looks like there are about 514 P210s in the FAA database. If you exported all those N numbers and then searched the FAA’s document index you could see how many of those aircraft have had filings with the FAA in the last 6 months. Though not precise it would give you an approximation. 

Have questions for Adam? He is happy to answer them. Submit your questions here.