Commercial and Specialty Property Financing
Financing where the property, not the borrower, carries most of the analysis. Commercial buildings, apartment properties of five units or more, and investment purchases by buyers who are not U.S. citizens each follow their own underwriting path.
What separates these from ordinary business borrowing is that the asset has to support the debt on its own numbers — income, value, and the gap between them.
Educational comparison only. No page here indicates approval odds. Independent providers set their own criteria and terms.
In this group
Why the property does the work
In commercial and specialty lending, the building’s income and value usually matter more than the borrower’s salary. The metrics are defined before anything else — and different providers define them differently.
Net operating income, debt service coverage, loan-to-value and capitalisation rate all sound standard until you compare two term sheets and find the same words producing different numbers. Which expenses are deducted, whether a vacancy allowance is applied, what counts as reserves — these change the result before a rate is quoted.
That is the first question to settle on any of these routes: not what the rate is, but how the provider calculates the figures that determine it.
Which route fits the property
Unit count and occupancy decide more than anything else here. Two rows point outside this group.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| What you are financing | What that turns on | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| An office, retail, industrial or mixed-use building | What that turns onProperty income, value, maturity structure and recourse | Start hereCommercial Real Estate Loans |
| An apartment property with five or more units | What that turns onUnit count moves it out of residential underwriting entirely | Start hereMultifamily Loans |
| A one-to-four-unit rental property | What that turns onStill residential investor territory, not commercial | Start hereRental Property Loans |
| You are not a U.S. citizen and buying investment property | What that turns onIdentity, residency, credit alternatives and currency risk | Start hereForeign National Investor Loans |
| A property the business will occupy itself | What that turns onOwner-occupied changes which programs apply | Start hereCommercial Real Estate Loans |
| Temporary funding before permanent financing | What that turns onA different execution, not a cheaper version of one | Start hereBridge Loans |
Compare the routes in detail
Commercial Real Estate Loans
Office, retail, industrial and mixed-use property. Covers how NOI is built, what DSCR and LTV actually measure, permanent against transitional execution, third-party reports, and recourse and guaranty scope.
Multifamily Loans
Apartment properties of five units and above, which sit outside residential underwriting. Rent roll, operating expenses, unit mix and property condition drive the analysis.
Foreign National Investor Loans
Investment-property financing where the buyer is not a U.S. citizen. Identity and residency documentation, credit alternatives where there is no U.S. file, foreign income and assets, and currency and transfer risk.
Define the metrics before comparing anything
Ask every provider to show the calculation, not just the result. The same property can produce materially different figures depending on these choices:
- Which operating expenses are included, and whether a management fee is imputed
- Whether a vacancy or collection allowance is applied, and at what rate
- Whether reserves for replacement are deducted before coverage is calculated
- Which value the loan-to-value ratio uses — purchase price, appraised value or stabilised value
- Whether coverage is tested at the actual payment or at a stressed constant
- What the maturity structure is, and whether a balloon falls due before the business plan completes
No page on this site can tell you whether you will be approved. Anyone who can, before reviewing your documents, is not describing a real underwriting process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a property “commercial” rather than residential?
Use and unit count, not size or price. Five or more residential units is generally financed as multifamily; office, retail, industrial and mixed-use are commercial. One to four residential units remains residential investor financing, even when owned by a company. See Rental Property Loans.
Is multifamily the same as commercial real estate?
It is a distinct route within it. Multifamily Loans covers five-plus-unit apartment property specifically; Commercial Real Estate Loans covers the broader category including office, retail and industrial.
Can a non-U.S. citizen finance commercial property?
It depends on the provider, the property and the documentation available. The constraints are usually around identity, residency status, credit history where no U.S. file exists, and how foreign income and assets are verified. See Foreign National Investor Loans.
Why do two lenders calculate DSCR differently?
Because the inputs are not standardised. Expense treatment, vacancy assumptions, reserve deductions and whether coverage is tested at the actual or a stressed payment all vary. Ask each provider to show the calculation rather than comparing ratios in isolation.
Does owner-occupied property change anything?
Yes. Occupying the property yourself can open program routes that are unavailable for pure investment, and changes how the income is assessed. It is worth establishing occupancy intent early because it affects which providers are relevant at all.
What if the property needs work before it can be let?
Condition affects which execution applies. A property that cannot yet produce income may need transitional financing before permanent financing is available. See Bridge Loans.
Does ShopRates decide whether I qualify?
No. ShopRates provides information and may connect you with independent providers. Each provider makes its own eligibility and pricing decisions.
Start With the Property, Then Compare Offers
Tell us the property type, unit count, intended use and approximate value. ShopRates can organise the comparison and may connect you with independent providers. Each provider determines its own eligibility, pricing, fees, terms and funding schedule.
This is not an application, offer or commitment.