I have seen billboard loan amortization rates as short a 5 years and as long as 20 years.
5-7 year amortization is not unusual with bank or lease financing. It is have for many small billboard companies to completely pay off their debt in 5 years.
10-20 years amortization is the norm for private financing. I like to set amortization so that my loan has a weighted remaining life which is less than a borrower’s land leases. If a Borrower has land leases with an average weighted remaining life of 16 years then I am comfortable with 15 year amortization.
Regardless of the amortization (5 years, 10 years, 15 years or 20 years), I put a balloon maturity on loans at the end of five years. This allows me to revisit terms and pricing if business risks change or if debt markets tighten and my financing gets more expensive.
