2010 has been quite an interesting year for most folks in the commercial arena and I suspect 2011 is going to be even more interesting. Many of us in the financial sector found ourselves heavily involved in the process of re-educating clients. And if you’re wondering why, here is the reason. During the past decade a plethora of commercial loan products have been available to investors. Credit was accessible by almost everyone, lending guidelines lenient with limited documentation, real estate values became artificially inflated, and interest rates driven to their lowest point in decades by the central bank. But nothing lasts forever and so is the case with the easy credit era. One of the differences between yesterday and today is that back then banks were competing for clients while today clients are competing for money.