Commercial Investment Property Loans

Commercial property investors deal in competitive markets where timing determines whether a transaction succeeds. Off-market acquisitions, auction purchases, vendor-driven deadlines, and portfolio additions that need to settle before a related transaction completes are all situations where a standard bank commercial lending process, typically 6 to 12 weeks, is not fit for purpose. That is the gap private lending fills.

Who This Is For

• •Pty Ltd companies building commercial property investment portfolios
• •Discretionary and unit family trusts acquiring commercial assets for yield and capital growth
• •SMSFs purchasing commercial property as qualifying business real property or pure investment
• •Established commercial property investors adding to existing portfolios
• •Investors pivoting from residential to commercial for tax treatment or diversification reasons
• •Not available to natural persons borrowing in their personal name
• •Not available for owner-occupier residential, first home buyers, or any NCCP-regulated consumer lending

How We Assess Commercial Investment Deals

Our assessment centres on the security property and the borrower's exit strategy rather than income serviceability. For commercial investment property, that means the asset quality, the LVR, the lease profile where one exists, and the credibility of the exit, typically refinance to a long-term commercial lender or sale.

Vacant commercial property is assessed on the buyer's re-leasing strategy and holding capacity. Tenanted property is assessed on the asset quality first, with lease terms informing our view of risk rather than driving the primary decision. We do not decline deals solely because a tenancy is short-dated or a property is between leases.

Submit your scenario with the property details, borrower entity type, proposed loan amount, and intended exit. Our credit team responds with an indicative position the same day. Letters of offer are issued within 24 hours of agreed terms.

Three Recent Commercial Investment Scenarios

A Pty Ltd company with an existing portfolio of three commercial properties identified an industrial strata unit in Melbourne's west. The tenant was a freight company on a four-year lease at a strong yield. Settlement was required in 21 days. The company's bank needed eight weeks. Loan: $720,000, first mortgage, 65% LVR. Refinanced to a long-term commercial lender at month six.

A family trust wanted to add a strata retail property in a Sydney inner suburb to its investment portfolio. The tenant was a national pharmacy chain with four years remaining on its lease. The bank declined on entity structure complexity: the trust operated across multiple related entities. We assessed on the asset quality and lease covenant. Loan: $1.1 million, first mortgage, 58% LVR.

An SMSF trustee company acquired a small commercial office suite as a pure investment, not business real property but a yield-driven acquisition within LRBA rules. The fund needed speed because the property had attracted competing interest and the vendor wanted unconditional contracts within seven days. Settlement achieved in four days from enquiry. Loan: $550,000, 18-month term.

Speed and Process Advantage

Commercial investment acquisitions are time-competitive. We hold direct credit authority, use in-house valuers who assess concurrently with underwriting, and do not run deals through an external committee. A complete enquiry today gets an indicative response today. For auction purchases and off-market acquisitions with firm vendor deadlines, our 24 to 72-hour settlement capability is the practical reason borrowers come to us rather than waiting on their bank.

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