The Complete Guide to Private Commercial Real Estate Loans
Commercial real estate investors across our 20-state footprint face the same recurring problem: the best deals demand speed, and banks simply cannot move fast enough. A retail strip center available at a discount through a motivated seller, a warehouse at auction requiring a 14-day close, an office building whose conventional lender pulled out at the last minute — these are the exact scenarios where Sab Tera Lending funds deals every week.
We are a direct private lender, not a broker. When you call us, you are speaking with the people who make the lending decisions. We do not send your file to a committee, a bank, or an outside investor. Our capital is proprietary and discretionary, which is why we can issue a same-day term sheet and close in 14 to 21 days when banks take 60 to 120 — with no minimum credit score requirement standing in the way.
What Is a Commercial Real Estate Bridge Loan?
A commercial real estate bridge loan is a short-term (12 to 36 months), interest-only loan secured by a commercial property. It is designed to "bridge" a gap: between purchase and permanent financing, between vacancy and stabilization, between acquisition and refinance. Unlike a bank mortgage that requires years of income history, debt coverage ratios, and months of underwriting, a bridge loan is underwritten primarily on the property value and exit strategy. Sab Tera also offers a dedicated bridge loan program for borrowers who need short-term capital outside the CRE-specific structure.
Commercial bridge loans are the primary tool used by active investors who need to move quickly on deals that banks cannot or will not touch — distressed properties, transitional assets, special-purpose buildings like auto repair shops, and time-sensitive acquisitions.
Office Building Loans — Fast Private Financing
Whether you are acquiring a suburban office park in Dallas, a medical office building in Newark, or a multi-tenant office complex in Miami, Sab Tera Lending provides fast bridge financing based on current property value and tenancy. We finance single-tenant and multi-tenant office, owner-occupied (where the borrowing entity occupies a portion), net-lease office, and value-add repositioning plays where an office is being re-tenanted or converted.
We underwrite office loans on the as-is rent roll for stabilized properties, and on the as-stabilized value for transitional or vacant office buildings. If you have a clear plan to fill vacancy and a competitive price on the asset, we can fund it — with no credit minimum and no income documentation required.
Retail Property Loans — Strip Centers, Freestanding Retail, and NNN
Our retail lending covers the full spectrum: anchored strip centers with national tenants, unanchored neighborhood strips, freestanding single-tenant retail (NNN), downtown storefront retail, and inline mall spaces. Retail is among our most active commercial categories, particularly in the NYC metro, South Florida, Houston, Atlanta, and Charlotte markets.
We do not require the property to be fully leased. Retail properties with partial vacancy are frequently funded based on the as-stabilized value, with a bridge loan structured to allow time for re-tenanting. If the deal makes sense, we fund it.
Warehouse and Industrial Loans — Private Bridge Financing
Demand for warehouse and industrial space remains elevated across our service states — driven by e-commerce logistics, last-mile distribution, and manufacturing reshoring. We finance warehouse acquisitions and refinances in New Jersey (the premier logistics corridor in the Northeast), Long Island, Houston's industrial parks, Miami's Airport submarket, Atlanta's I-85 corridor, the Charlotte-to-Raleigh industrial triangle, and growing Midwest hubs like Columbus and Indianapolis.
We fund standard warehouses, light industrial flex space, distribution centers, cold storage, and manufacturing facilities, typically in the $500,000 to $5,000,000 range.
Auto Repair Shop Loans — Special-Purpose Commercial Financing
Auto repair shops, auto body shops, transmission specialists, quick-lube centers, and tire shops are classified as special-purpose commercial real estate. Many banks will not lend on these properties at all due to their single-use nature, and those that do require lengthy underwriting processes. Sab Tera Lending regularly finances auto repair and auto body shop real estate across our entire service territory.
We evaluate auto repair shop loans based on the real estate value (land and improvements), the building's income potential (existing lease or owner-user occupancy), and the exit strategy. Common scenarios we fund: purchasing the property you currently rent to stop paying rent; acquiring a leased auto repair property as an investor; pulling cash-out equity from an owned auto shop to expand or fund another acquisition; bridging an auto shop property while arranging SBA 504 permanent financing.
Car Wash, Self-Storage, and Mixed-Use Loans
Car wash properties — express tunnel, full-service, in-bay automatic, and self-service — are among the most attractive special-purpose commercial investments due to their low staffing requirements, high margins, and long-term lease structures. Self-storage facilities represent one of the most resilient commercial asset classes, with strong performance across economic cycles; we fund acquisitions, lease-up phase financing, and cash-out refinances. Mixed-use properties — typically retail or commercial on the ground floor with residential apartments above — are among the most common commercial loans we fund in the New York metro area, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Florida.
Beyond Commercial: Our Other 5 Loan Programs
Commercial real estate is one piece of our lending platform. We also originate fix and flip loans from 9.5% interest-only for 1–4 unit rehab investors closing in as little as 7 days; DSCR rental loans from 6.5% on a 30-year fixed term with no income verification for buy-and-hold investors; bridge loans from 9.5% interest-only for time-sensitive acquisitions and payoffs; ground-up construction loans from 10.0% interest-only with up to 90% loan-to-cost for builders and developers; and multifamily 5+ loans offering both bridge and permanent financing for apartment buildings. Every program shares the same underwriting philosophy: no credit score minimum, no income verification, zero upfront fees, and same-day commitment.
Asset-Based Underwriting — How We Evaluate Your Deal
Our underwriting is property-first, not borrower-first. We evaluate: (1) the current market value of the property based on comparable sales and a USPAP-compliant appraisal; (2) the in-place or achievable rent roll; (3) the property's location and market fundamentals; (4) the borrower's experience and exit strategy; and (5) the overall deal structure including LTV and loan amount.
We do not require personal tax returns, W-2s, business profit-and-loss statements, or bank statements to underwrite your deal. There is no minimum credit score. Self-employed borrowers, international investors, LLC entities, and borrowers with non-traditional income are eligible as long as the deal is solid.
How to Evaluate a Commercial Real Estate Deal Before You Call Us
Before submitting a deal, most experienced investors run a quick gut-check on four questions: What is the property actually worth today, as-is? What would it be worth stabilized, and how long realistically would stabilization take? What is my exit — sale, refinance, or long-term hold — and does that exit line up with a 12-to-36 month bridge term? And finally, what is the worst-case scenario if leasing or renovation takes longer than expected? Sab Tera Lending underwriters ask these same questions, so arriving with clear answers speeds up your same-day term sheet and helps us structure a loan term that actually fits your timeline rather than forcing a refinance under pressure.
It also helps to have a realistic sense of comparable sales or lease rates in the immediate submarket, not just the metro area broadly. A warehouse in the Lehigh Valley industrial corridor of Pennsylvania trades very differently than one in central Ohio, and a strip center in coastal South Florida carries different assumptions than one in inland Alabama. We factor local submarket dynamics into every commercial appraisal review, and borrowers who bring that same local knowledge to the table tend to get the fastest, cleanest approvals.
Special-Purpose Commercial Property Financing Explained
Special-purpose commercial real estate — auto repair shops, car washes, gas stations, self-storage facilities, funeral homes, bowling alleys, and similar single-use buildings — is financed differently than general-purpose office or retail space because it typically cannot be repurposed for another use without significant capital investment. Most banks either decline these property types outright or require a much lower LTV and a longer underwriting cycle to compensate for the narrower resale pool. Sab Tera Lending treats special-purpose properties as a core part of our commercial platform rather than an exception, funding them regularly at 60%–70% LTV across all 20 states and Long Island.
Our approach to special-purpose underwriting weighs the real estate value independent of the current business operating inside it, the property's flexibility for an alternate special-purpose use if needed, and the strength of any in-place lease if the real estate and the operating business are held separately. This means an owner-operator buying the auto repair shop they currently rent, an investor acquiring a net-leased car wash portfolio, or a borrower pulling cash out of a paid-off gas station can all typically qualify — categories that Lima One, Kiavi, Easy Street Capital, RCN Capital, and LendingOne do not actively finance.
Commercial Real Estate Market Trends Across Our Service States
Commercial real estate conditions vary meaningfully across our footprint. In the Northeast corridor — New York, Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania — limited land availability keeps industrial and warehouse rents elevated, while office demand remains bifurcated between well-located, amenitized buildings and older stock facing higher vacancy that often creates bridge-loan opportunities. Sun Belt markets — Florida, Georgia, Texas, and the Carolinas — continue to see population-driven retail and mixed-use demand, along with strong self-storage and auto-service fundamentals tied to household growth. Southern markets including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee often present higher cap-rate opportunities for value-add retail and industrial investors willing to take on light repositioning work. In the Midwest — Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana — affordable basis and steady industrial demand from logistics and manufacturing continue to draw both local and out-of-state commercial investors.
Across every one of these markets, the constant is that conventional bank and CMBS financing has grown more conservative and slower to close, which is why direct private commercial lending has become a standard tool — not a last resort — for serious investors moving on time-sensitive deals.
Bridge Loan vs. Hard Money vs. Private Money: Clearing Up the Terminology
Investors researching commercial financing often encounter three overlapping terms — bridge loan, hard money loan, and private money loan — used almost interchangeably, which can make comparison shopping confusing. In practice, a hard money loan and a private money loan both describe the same thing: a short-term loan from a non-bank, non-institutional lender secured primarily by the real estate rather than the borrower's income or credit. A bridge loan describes the purpose of that capital — temporary financing that bridges a gap until permanent financing, a sale, or stabilization. Sab Tera Lending's commercial real estate loans are, functionally, private hard money bridge loans: short-term, asset-based, interest-only financing from a direct capital source, structured around whatever gap your specific deal needs to bridge.
Understanding this overlap matters when you are comparing quotes. A lender advertising "commercial hard money" and one advertising "commercial bridge financing" may be offering the exact same underwriting box with different marketing language, so the numbers that actually matter are rate, LTV, credit requirements, upfront fees, and time to close — not the label on the loan.
What Happens After Your Loan Closes
Once your commercial real estate loan closes, Sab Tera Lending services the loan directly rather than transferring it to a third-party servicer, so questions about payments, payoffs, or draw requests (for renovation-linked deals) go straight to the same team that originated your loan. Monthly payments are interest-only for the life of the bridge term, which keeps carrying costs predictable while you execute your business plan — lease-up, renovation, repositioning, or a straightforward hold to sale. There are no prepayment penalties on any Sab Tera Lending commercial loan, so if you refinance into permanent bank or CMBS debt ahead of schedule, or sell the asset early, you pay off the balance with no penalty and no surprise fees.
As your maturity date approaches, our team proactively reaches out to discuss your exit — whether that means arranging permanent takeout financing, listing the property for sale, or, if the business plan needs more time, discussing an extension. Because we are the direct lender and not a broker, these conversations happen with decision-makers, not a call center.
Multi-Tenant vs. Single-Tenant Commercial Properties: Underwriting Differences
Multi-tenant properties — strip centers, multi-tenant office buildings, and mixed-use buildings with several commercial units — spread income risk across several leases, so a single vacancy has a smaller impact on overall cash flow. Single-tenant properties, including net-lease retail, single-user industrial buildings, and owner-occupied special-purpose real estate like an auto repair shop, concentrate risk in one lease or one operating business, which is why lease strength and tenant creditworthiness matter more in single-tenant underwriting. Sab Tera Lending finances both structures across our full 20-state and Long Island footprint, adjusting LTV and structure to reflect the concentration of risk rather than declining single-tenant deals outright, as many institutional lenders do.
Common Commercial Loan Use Cases
- Acquiring a commercial property at auction or through a short-sale requiring a 14-to-30 day close
- Pulling cash-out equity from a stabilized CRE asset while arranging permanent bank or CMBS debt
- Stabilizing a partially vacant commercial property before qualifying for agency or SBA permanent financing
- Completing a 1031 exchange under a 45-day identification or 180-day close deadline
- Paying off a maturing commercial balloon note while refinancing into permanent debt
- Refinancing a commercial property after completion of renovations or re-tenanting
- Purchasing the building your business occupies to stop paying rent and build equity
Commercial Real Estate Markets We Know Best
Our most active commercial lending markets include New York (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island), New Jersey (Newark, Jersey City, Edison), Connecticut (Hartford, Stamford, Bridgeport), Florida (Miami, Tampa, Orlando), Texas (Houston, Dallas, Austin), Georgia (Atlanta, Savannah), North Carolina (Charlotte, Raleigh), Ohio (Columbus, Cleveland), Tennessee (Nashville, Memphis), and Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh) — alongside our full 20-state footprint.
If you are looking for a commercial real estate loan in any city, county, or market within these 20 states and Long Island, contact us today for a same-day term sheet. We respond to every commercial loan inquiry the same business day.
How Commercial Real Estate Loan Rates Are Determined
Private commercial real estate rates are driven by five factors: loan-to-value, property type, market, borrower exit strategy, and loan term. Stabilized, income-producing assets in primary markets — a leased retail strip center in New Jersey, a multi-tenant office building in Massachusetts — typically price at the lower end of our 9.5%–11.5% range. Special-purpose properties like auto repair shops, car washes, and gas stations, along with vacant or transitional assets, price toward the higher end of the range because they carry more execution risk for the lender, even though they still qualify for financing that most banks will not offer at all.
Unlike a bank, we do not price primarily off your credit score or debt-to-income ratio — there is no minimum FICO requirement anywhere in our commercial program. Instead, our pricing reflects the strength of the collateral and the clarity of your exit: sale, refinance into permanent debt, or stabilized cash flow. This is why two borrowers with very different credit profiles can receive the same rate on comparable deals, and why self-employed investors, LLCs, and foreign nationals are priced identically to any other qualified borrower.
Loan-to-Value and Loan-to-Cost Explained for Commercial Borrowers
Loan-to-value (LTV) measures your loan amount against the property's appraised value — either "as-is" for stabilized assets or "as-stabilized" for value-add and transitional deals. Sab Tera Lending lends up to 75% LTV on most commercial property types, with 60%–70% LTV on special-purpose assets such as car washes, gas stations, and single-use auto repair facilities, reflecting their narrower resale pool. For ground-up commercial construction or major repositioning projects, loan-to-cost (LTC) — the ratio of the loan to total project cost including acquisition and construction — is often the more relevant metric, and our ground-up construction program can fund up to 90% of total project cost for qualified builders.
Because we underwrite on the asset rather than a debt-service-coverage-ratio formula alone, a partially vacant office building or an under-leased retail center can still qualify for meaningful leverage as long as the as-stabilized value supports it and you have a credible plan to reach stabilization within your loan term.
Documents You'll Need to Submit
Because we do not require income verification, our documentation list is dramatically shorter than a bank's. To get a same-day term sheet, we typically ask for:
- A purchase contract (for acquisitions) or current mortgage statement (for refinances)
- Basic property information: address, property type, square footage, and unit or bay count
- Current rent roll or lease summary, if the property is occupied
- Photos of the property, interior and exterior, if available
- Entity formation documents (LLC operating agreement, articles of incorporation) if borrowing through an entity
- A brief description of your exit strategy — sale, refinance, or long-term hold
We do not ask for personal tax returns, W-2s, business bank statements, or a formal business plan. Most borrowers can assemble this package in under an hour, which is a large part of why we can issue same-day terms.
Commercial vs. Multifamily: Which Loan Program Fits Your Deal?
Properties with five or more residential units are technically classified as commercial real estate for financing purposes, which sometimes creates confusion about which Sab Tera Lending program to use. If your deal is a pure multifamily play — an apartment building, garden-style complex, or 5+ unit residential building with no significant commercial component — our dedicated multifamily loan program is usually the better fit, since it is built specifically around apartment underwriting, unit-level rent rolls, and permanent takeout options. If your deal involves office, retail, warehouse, mixed-use, or special-purpose commercial space — with or without an apartment component — this commercial real estate program is the right entry point. When a deal blends both, such as a mixed-use building with ground-floor retail and upstairs apartments, either program can typically accommodate it; call us at (516) 336-9293 and we will point you to the faster path.
Long Island Commercial Real Estate: A Closer Look
Long Island — spanning Nassau County and Suffolk County outside the five boroughs — is one of our most active commercial lending markets and one we treat as a distinct service area alongside our 19 states. Local commercial demand spans retail corridors in Hempstead and Huntington, industrial and flex space near the Long Island Expressway, and auto repair, self-storage, and mixed-use properties throughout Nassau and Suffolk County towns like Babylon, Islip, Smithtown, and Brookhaven. Many Long Island commercial owners are longtime local investors who value a lender who already understands the towns, zoning boards, and price points here rather than a national call center. Because Sab Tera Lending is headquartered in Huntington, NY, Long Island deals often move even faster than our already-fast 14–21 day standard.
Why Investors Choose a Private Lender Over a Bank for Commercial Real Estate
Bank and CMBS commercial real estate loans typically take 60 to 120 days to close, require extensive income documentation, full underwriting committee approval, and a minimum credit score usually in the 680–740+ range. They also tend to avoid vacant properties, special-purpose real estate, and deals with tight closing windows. Sab Tera Lending exists for exactly the deals a bank cannot fund on the borrower's timeline: an auction property with a 14-day close requirement, a partially vacant retail center that needs a bridge before it can qualify for permanent financing, or a foreign national buyer without a U.S. credit file. Our same-day commitment and 14–21 day close are not a marketing claim — they are a function of being a direct, discretionary capital source with no outside committee to satisfy.
1031 Exchanges and Time-Sensitive Commercial Closings
Investors completing a 1031 exchange face a hard 45-day identification window and a 180-day close deadline, with no extensions available regardless of financing delays. A bank or CMBS lender that cannot close inside that window can cost you the entire tax deferral. Sab Tera Lending's 14–21 day close gives 1031 exchange buyers a wide safety margin, and because we do not require income verification, complex multi-entity exchange structures do not slow down underwriting the way they often do with conventional lenders.