Multifamily Loans — Everything Investors Need to Know
Sabteral Lending provides private bridge and acquisition financing for multifamily properties with 5 or more residential units. We are a direct lender — no brokers, no middlemen — funding apartment building deals across New York (including all five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester), New Jersey, Connecticut, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas.
What Is a Multifamily Loan?
A multifamily loan is financing for a residential property with 5 or more units. Properties with 1–4 units use residential loan products such as conventional mortgages or our DSCR rental loans. At 5 units and above, a property is classified as commercial real estate, which means different underwriting standards, commercial appraisals, and loan products designed specifically for income-producing apartment buildings.
Private multifamily bridge loans — the type Sabteral originates — are short-term loans (typically 12–36 months) designed to bridge the gap between acquiring or repositioning an apartment building and the point when the property qualifies for permanent agency financing from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or HUD. They are particularly valuable for value-add acquisitions, vacant buildings, distressed properties, and time-sensitive deals where conventional timelines are simply not viable.
Multifamily Loan Rates — What to Expect in 2026
Sabteral's private multifamily bridge loans start at 9.5% interest-only. Your specific rate depends on several factors: the LTV (loan-to-value), the property's current occupancy and condition, the market it's located in, your experience as an investor, and the overall deal structure. Interest-only payments are available on most programs, keeping your monthly carrying costs manageable while you execute the value-add business plan.
For context: bank multifamily loans typically price at a spread over the 5-year or 10-year Treasury (currently around 5–7%), but require 60–90 days to close, full income documentation, 85–90% occupancy, and stabilized property condition. Permanent agency loans (Fannie, Freddie, HUD) offer the best long-term rates but require even more time and documentation. Private bridge loans cost more — and should — because they offer speed, flexibility, and the ability to fund deals that banks simply cannot touch.
Small Balance Multifamily Loans ($500K–$3M)
Our sweet spot is small balance multifamily — apartment buildings in the $500,000 to $3,000,000 range, typically 5 to 30 units. This segment is underserved. It's too large for residential lenders (who stop at 1–4 units) but too small for the large institutional multifamily funds and CMBS conduits that focus on $10M+ loans. Sabteral specifically built our program for this gap — which is exactly where most Northeast real estate investors operate.
Small apartment building deals in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut routinely fall into this range: a 6-unit brownstone in Brooklyn, a 10-unit garden apartment in Queens, a 12-unit building in Newark, a 15-unit complex in Hartford. These are exactly the deals that need a private lender who understands the local market and can move fast.
Value-Add Multifamily Strategy
Value-add multifamily is one of our core deal types. A typical value-add acquisition works like this: an investor buys an apartment building with below-market rents, high vacancy, deferred maintenance, or poor management. We fund the acquisition at up to 75% of as-is value. The investor stabilizes the property — renovating units, bringing rents to market, reducing vacancy, improving operations. Once stabilized, they refinance into permanent agency debt. The bridge loan bridges the gap between acquisition and stabilization.
This strategy generates significant equity for investors who execute well. A building acquired at a 7% cap rate based on current below-market rents can often be refinanced at a 5% cap rate once rents are brought to market — creating substantial value. Our job is to give you the time and capital to execute that thesis.
Vacant and Distressed Apartment Buildings
We have no minimum occupancy requirement. We regularly fund multifamily acquisitions on buildings that are 0% occupied, using market rent from the commercial appraisal to underwrite the loan. This is one of our most critical advantages over any institutional or conventional lender — banks and agency programs typically require 85–90% occupancy before they will even look at a deal.
Vacant and distressed buildings are often the best value-add opportunities precisely because they can't attract conventional financing. Other buyers walk away. That's where Sabteral-financed investors move in. If the building has solid bones, a credible market rent thesis, and a borrower with a clear plan, we can lend — regardless of current occupancy.
Eligible Apartment Building and Multifamily Property Types
Our multifamily loan program covers a broad range of residential income property types: garden-style apartment complexes; mid-rise buildings; walkup apartment buildings; converted brownstones and rowhouses with 5+ units; mixed-use buildings with a majority residential component; purpose-built affordable housing; small apartment portfolios. The common requirement is 5 or more residential units. Properties with 1–4 units qualify for our DSCR rental loan program — 30-year permanent financing for stabilized single-family rentals through 4-unit buildings.
Multifamily Loans by Market — Where We Lend
We are active multifamily lenders across the Northeast, Southeast, and Texas markets. Here's a breakdown by region:
New York: We fund apartment building acquisitions and refinances across all five NYC boroughs — Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island — as well as Long Island (Nassau County, Suffolk County), Westchester, and Hudson Valley. New York multifamily is our most active market, with closings in neighborhoods including Freeport, Hempstead, Jamaica, Flatbush, the South Bronx, and more.
New Jersey: We cover all major NJ counties including Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Union, Passaic, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean. Active markets include Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Trenton, and Atlantic County. NJ apartment building loans from $500K to $3M+ are our typical deal size.
Connecticut: We fund multifamily deals in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, Waterbury, and surrounding markets. Connecticut multifamily lending is an active part of our portfolio.
Southeast (SC, GA, AL, NC): Growing markets with strong multifamily fundamentals. We fund apartment building deals in Columbia SC, Charleston SC, Atlanta GA, Birmingham AL, Charlotte NC, and surrounding metros. South Carolina multifamily loans and Georgia apartment loans are available for qualifying properties.
Exit Strategy — Multifamily Bridge to Permanent
Our multifamily bridge loan is designed to be replaced by permanent financing once the property is stabilized. Common exit strategies include refinancing into a Freddie Mac Small Balance Loan (SBL), Fannie Mae DUS multifamily loan, HUD 223(f) program, or a portfolio loan from a local bank or credit union. Many of our borrowers stabilize a value-add acquisition within 12–18 months and refinance at a higher stabilized value — extracting equity and building wealth through the process.
We underwrite deals from day one with the exit strategy in mind. Your term and loan structure are designed to give you the time you need to execute. If you need 24 months to complete a value-add renovation and lease-up, we build the loan for that. If your building is already 80% occupied and you need 9 months to bridge to permanent financing, we structure for that instead.
Multifamily Loan vs. DSCR Loan — Key Differences
Borrowers often ask how our multifamily bridge loans differ from DSCR loans. The key distinctions: DSCR loans are long-term (30-year) permanent financing for stabilized 1–4 unit rental properties, qualifying based on the property's debt service coverage ratio rather than personal income. Our multifamily bridge loans are short-term (12–36 months) for 5+ unit properties — used to acquire, stabilize, or reposition a building before refinancing into permanent agency debt. If you're unsure which program fits your deal, call us — we'll tell you in five minutes.
Multifamily Loans for Essex, Hudson, and Middlesex County, NJ
New Jersey multifamily investors — particularly those targeting Essex County apartment loans, Hudson County apartment financing, and Middlesex County multifamily deals — consistently run into the same problem: local banks move slowly, have high occupancy requirements, and often won't touch buildings with deferred maintenance. Sabteral fills that gap. We've closed apartment building loans in Newark, Irvington, Jersey City, New Brunswick, and across the Garden State's urban core — the exact markets where speed and flexibility matter most.
Queens, Brooklyn, and Bronx Apartment Building Loans
NYC outer-borough multifamily is one of the most active deal environments in the country. Brooklyn apartment loans, Queens multifamily financing, and Bronx apartment building deals share a common theme: properties are priced for their potential, competition is intense, and speed wins deals. Our 7–14 day closing timeline gives investors a decisive edge over buyers dependent on conventional financing. We've funded apartment buildings throughout Jamaica, Flatbush, East New York, Astoria, Jackson Heights, the South Bronx, and more.