Real estate financing since 2013
The building has to carry its own weight.
That is what makes a commercial file different.
Busy Bee Services places commercial real estate financing with lenders who read the property first and the borrower second. Multifamily, mixed use, office, retail, industrial, and special purpose properties all move through the same intake, whether you plan to occupy the building or hold it as an investment. We are a broker, not a lender. We place your file with the programs it actually fits and tell you honestly where it lands.
Property types
What counts as commercial real estate
Commercial covers more than a strip mall. If income or use puts a property outside a straightforward single family purchase, it is probably commercial.
Owner occupied or investment
The building you run your business from is not the building you rent out
Lenders split commercial real estate into two boxes, and the box changes which programs are even on the table.
Owner occupied
Your business operates from the property and occupies most of the space. This path can look toward an SBA 7(a) Express loan, which places $30,000 to $500,000 in all 50 states with terms up to 10 years and rates from 6% to 10%. It calls for two years in business, a credit score of 680 or above, and a profitable business in an eligible industry, with funding in about a month.
Investment property
You are buying or refinancing a property to rent to someone else, and the file is underwritten on the numbers the property produces. If the deal needs to close fast or needs rehab money, hard money fix and flip financing places up to 80% of the purchase price and up to 100% of rehab funds, with a minimum loan of $100,000 and rates starting at 6%, for either a purchase or a cash out refinance.
Investment property financing →Underwriting
The property has to make the payment
On a residential loan, the underwriter is mostly looking at you. On a commercial file, the property does a lot of the talking.
- The net income the property actually produces, not projected income
- Occupancy, and how long the current leases run
- The type of tenant, and how replaceable that income is
- Your experience owning or operating similar property
- Your own credit and finances, which still matter, just not as the whole file
Vacant or unstable income does not disqualify a property. It moves the file to a smaller pool of lenders who price for that kind of risk instead of the ones who need a stabilized building on day one.
Paperwork
What the file needs, and what the appraisal decides
Most commercial files ask for a similar packet no matter what the property is. Recent bank statements for the business, and for the property itself if it already has tenants. Tax returns. A rent roll if there is one to show. The purchase agreement on a purchase, or the current mortgage statement on a refinance. Entity documents if you are buying inside an LLC or a corporation, which most investors do. None of that gets pulled or requested until you actually apply.
The appraisal is where the file gets its number. A licensed, independent appraiser inspects the property, values the income it produces, and compares it against similar sales nearby. That figure, not the price written on the purchase agreement, is what a lender actually lends against. The appraisal is ordered once your file is moving forward and is paid directly to the appraiser, never to us.
Program amounts, rates, and terms named on this page are third party lender program ranges. They are not an offer or a commitment to lend, and final terms depend on underwriting and approval.
Common questions
Before you apply for commercial real estate financing
Does the whole building have to be commercial use?
No. A mixed use building with apartments above a storefront is still commercial when the commercial space is a real part of the property. Tell us the mix of uses and we will tell you which lenders it fits.
Can a new business buy a commercial building with no track record?
Yes, though the file leans harder on your personal credit and experience since the business has none of its own yet. It gets underwritten closer to how a startup file works than how an established owner occupied file works.
Do I need a rent roll if the building is vacant?
No, and a vacant building is not an automatic decline. It changes which lenders will look at the deal and how they treat the income until it leases up.
Will I have to personally guarantee the loan?
On most commercial financing, especially for a smaller or newer company, the owners are asked to personally guarantee it. That is one more reason your own credit and finances still matter on a file that is mostly about the property.
How is a bridge loan different from a commercial mortgage?
A bridge loan is short term money used to get a property stabilized, repositioned, or sold before longer term financing takes over. A commercial mortgage is the longer term piece that follows.
Do you lend directly?
No. Busy Bee Services is a broker. We place your file with lenders whose programs fit it, and you work directly with whichever one you choose to move forward with.
Find out what your property can support.
One application covers owner occupied and investment property files alike. No fee, and if a deal does not fit anywhere, you will hear that plainly.