In normal times the larger banks tend to get first crack at most of the Commercial Real Estate loans, leaving the less desirable deals for the smaller local banks. During good times it is a real advantage for the big guys while making life a little dicey for the locals. The local banks have to place sufficient loans to keep their money working, but not take on too much risk.

For the small guys who have managed to keep their balance sheets clean, now is their chance to shine.

The big banks aren't loaning. From the top down, many of then have radically tightened their lending requirements as they sort through all of their bad loans.

Because of this, the small local banks are starting to getting exposed to a much grater number of loan opportunities and are cherry picking the best for their portfolios.