What is Real Estate Lending?
Commercial real estate lending covers $500K to $100MM+ of property purchases, refinances, and cash-outs, with bridge structures of 12–36 months (interest-only) and permanent loans amortizing over 25–30 years at Prime + 2–7%. As of 2026, bridge loans handle acquisition timing gaps and cash-out refinances turn dead equity in property you already own into deployable working capital for the operating business.
How It Works
Commercial real estate is often the cheapest collateral in a business's capital stack. Real estate appreciates, does not move, and tends to be the lender's preferred asset to lend against, which means rates and terms attached to property usually beat what you can get on an asset-based line, an inventory loan, or a working capital loan. That is the math of how risk gets priced.
If your business owns commercial property — a building, a warehouse, owner-occupied space, or an investment parcel — and there is real equity in it, capital can usually be pulled out and redeployed into the operating business. The structures include a cash-out refinance, a second-position loan, a bridge, or in some cases a sale-leaseback. Equity sitting in a paid-off property can be put back to work without selling it.
A common use case: a brand with a paid-off building needs working capital for pre-season inventory but is rate-sensitive. An inventory line might price at 15–25%, while a cash-out against the building can fund the same need in single digits. Another common case is layering a second mortgage on personal real estate as one piece of an acquisition's capital stack — again because the property is the cheapest piece available.
As of 2026, we work facilities from $500K to $100MM+ across industrial, office, retail, multi-family, mixed-use, and investment portfolios. Bridge structures run 12–36 months at interest-only, while permanent loans amortize over 25–30 years at roughly Prime plus 2–7%. The maximum loan-to-value ratio depends on the asset — owner-occupied commercial typically reaches 65% or more, while raw land caps closer to 50%. We work with banks, credit unions, institutional lenders, private credit, and equity funds, and structure each deal around what the owner is optimizing for: lowest rate, lowest payment, maximum cash extraction, or speed.
Quick Facts
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Key Features & Benefits
Facilities from $500K to $100MM+, across all commercial property types
Cash-out refinance to redeploy dead equity into the operating business
Bridge structures (12-36 months, often interest-only) for acquisition timing and short hold periods
Permanent mortgages amortizing 25-30 years, typically Prime + 2-7% as of 2026
Owner-occupied commercial real estate: 65%+ LTV typical; layered LOC option on top
Investment / non-owner-occupied: DSCR-based underwriting against rental income
Raw land: 50% LTV maximum and slower to close — set expectations early
Sell-leaseback as a max-cash-extraction alternative when the owner is willing to give up the asset
PROPCO/OPCO structures supported — lender will underwrite both
SBA-style real-estate-backed structures available for businesses with a few rough years on the P&L (pro-forma underwrites)
Pairs cleanly with an asset-based line or unsecured stretch capital to build a layered-capital stack
Bank-friendly: most of these deals are referred in by bankers when the bank can't do the cash-out themselves
Real Estate Lending - Common Questions
Get answers to the most common questions about real estate lending
See It In Action
Real companies using Real Estate Lending to solve their capital challenges
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Other Funding Solutions
Working Capital Loans & Lines of Credit
A working capital loan is short-term, revenue-based financing of $100K to $10M+ that funds in 2 to 10 business days, priced at 1.25%–4% per month. As of 2026, it's the fastest way to cover payroll, inventory, or growth-driven cash gaps when a bank can't move quickly enough — and at the same speed as a merchant cash advance it costs roughly half as much because the payment is monthly rather than a daily extraction from sales.
Learn more about Working Capital Loans & Lines of Credit →Invoice Financing
Invoice factoring is the practice of selling unpaid B2B invoices to a factor for 75%–95% of face value within 24–48 hours, then receiving the balance (minus a 0.25%–1% fee per invoice) when the customer pays. As of 2026, pricing typically runs Prime + 1–6%, facility sizes range from $250K to $100MM, and the facility scales automatically with sales. Approval looks at your customers' credit rather than your tax return — which is why it works for growing companies whose financials don't yet tell the full story.
Learn more about Invoice Financing →Equipment Leasing
& Financing
Equipment leasing and financing covers $100K to $50MM+ of machinery, vehicles, or technology over 3–7 year terms, with advance rates of 70%–85% of liquidation value and pricing of Prime + 3–10%. As of 2026, financing the asset directly is almost always cheaper than drawing on a working-capital line for the same purchase. Sale-leaseback structures let you extract 50%–70% of the equity from equipment you already own without adding a new debt covenant.
Learn more about Equipment Leasing & Financing →