Commercial Lending Insights

Hitting the 10% equity injection is not the finish line. Lenders also look at what cash you still have the day after closing, and buyers who scrape together exactly the minimum often find out too late. Here is how post-closing liquidity actually works, and how to build it before you LOI.

Your seller will not go on full standby, so someone suggests an earnout. From a lending perspective those two structures are not cousins. They are opposites, and only one of them helps you qualify.

Your lender cannot decline an otherwise-eligible SBA loan just because you are short on collateral. That is written into the SOP. But on loans above $500,000, the lender must take a lien on the available equity in your personal real estate. Brad Hettich explains how the collateral math actually works, when your house comes into play, and the number most articles are getting wrong.

Since June 2025, every equity holder in a partial change of ownership, even a 5% passive investor, must personally guarantee the entire SBA loan for at least two years. Brad Hettich explains the rule, who it catches, and the structures that still work.

The SBA will finance up to 90% of your acquisition. The other 10% is the part that stops most first-time buyers cold. Here is exactly where that equity injection can come from — cash, gift funds, a retirement rollover, home equity, a seller standby note, or an investor — and what the SBA will not count.

One customer at 40% of revenue can kill an otherwise fundable deal, and most buyers find out in underwriting, not before the LOI. Here is how lenders actually look at concentration, and the five structures that can save the deal.

The seller says the business makes $280,000. The tax return says $180,000. Whether your SBA deal cash flows comes down to which add-backs a lender will actually accept, and most buyers learn the answer the expensive way.

The SBA raised the cumulative 7(a) and 504 loan limit from $5M to $10M effective July 4, 2026. Brad Hettich explains what actually changed, what did not, and how acquisition buyers can layer both programs together.

On March 1, the SBA quietly changed who is allowed to own any percentage of a business financed with a 7(a) or 504 loan. If you are a lawful permanent resident, or buying with a partner who is, you need to read this before you sign another LOI.

Since June 2025, seller notes in SBA deals must be on full standby for the life of the loan. That means zero payments to the seller for up to 10 years. Here is how to structure around it without killing the deal.

The Strait of Hormuz crisis pushed oil past $110 before settling at $96. Diesel is above $5.80. For anyone acquiring a business right now, these numbers change your deal math in ways most brokers are not talking about.

The SBA has released significant updates to the Standard Operating Procedure effective June 1st 2025. These changes affect seller note requirements, equity injection rules, and loan size caps. Here is what they mean for your deal.