Tools and Guides for Buying Commercial Property in Australia

The distinction matters more than most people realise — and it affects everything from how lenders assess your application to what loan structure makes sense. As a business owner buying your own premises, lenders are evaluating both the property and your business's ability to service the debt. The upside is that owner-occupiers typically attract better LVR conditions and more competitive rates than investors buying comparable properties, because the risk profile is different — you have a direct interest in the business succeeding.

As an investor buying a tenanted commercial property, the lender's primary focus shifts to the strength of the lease — the tenant's covenant, the remaining lease term, any options to renew, and the quality of the income stream. You don't need to demonstrate business serviceability in the same way, but you do need the numbers to stack up on a DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) basis.

The buying process is broadly the same, but the finance assessment, the due diligence checklist, and the risk factors you need to think through are meaningfully different. Our guides cover both paths.

The honest answer is: more than residential. As a general guide, most lenders require a minimum deposit of 30% to 35% for a commercial property purchase — meaning a maximum LVR (loan-to-value ratio) of 65% to 70%. Some lenders will go to 80% LVR for strong-covenant owner-occupier transactions or certain property types, but that's not the standard and it depends heavily on the specific asset, your financials, and the lender.

Property type also plays a significant role. Standard industrial, retail strata and office strata typically attracts better LVR conditions than specialised properties like service stations, childcare centres or hotels, which lenders treat as higher risk due to the operational nature of the business conducted there.

Beyond the deposit itself, you also need to budget for stamp duty, legal costs, building and pest inspection, and potentially a valuation fee — all of which need to come from your own funds rather than the loan. Our stamp duty calculator gives you an estimate for your state before you commit to anything.

Yes — and it's one of the more powerful strategies available to Australian business owners. An SMSF can purchase commercial property using a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA), which means the fund can borrow to buy the asset rather than needing to hold the full purchase price in cash. The key rules: the property must meet the definition of business real property, and if it's being leased back to a related party (your own business), it must be at market rent.

The structure that makes this particularly attractive for business owners is the ability to pay rent into your own superannuation fund rather than to a third-party landlord. That rent is received in a concessionally taxed environment, and if held through to the pension phase, the income can be tax-free. The numbers don't always work for everyone, but where they do, the long-term advantage is significant.

SMSF commercial property loans are assessed differently to standard commercial loans — the fund's contribution history, balance, and the property's income coverage ratio all factor in. If this is something you're considering, it's worth getting a clear picture of whether the numbers stack up before going too far down the path.

Stamp duty is typically the largest upfront cost after the deposit, and it varies considerably by state. On a $1.5 million commercial property purchase in NSW, for example, stamp duty alone can exceed $65,000 — so it's worth calculating this early in your planning. Our stamp duty calculator covers all Australian states and territories.

Beyond stamp duty, the costs to budget for typically include: legal and conveyancing fees (usually $2,000–$5,000 depending on complexity), a building and pest inspection ($500–$1,500), a bank valuation fee ($1,500–$3,000 depending on the property), and potentially a buyer's agent fee if you're using one. If the property has a tenancy, you'll also want a lease review by your solicitor.

As a rough rule of thumb, budgeting an additional 5% to 7% of the purchase price on top of your deposit to cover all upfront costs is a sensible starting position — though your specific situation may differ.

You can go directly to a bank — but there are a few things worth understanding before you do. Commercial property lending is not standardised in the way residential lending is. Each lender has its own credit policy, its own appetite for different property types and locations, and its own assessment methodology. A property that one lender declines at 70% LVR might be approved by another at the same LVR — because their policy for that asset class differs.

If you go directly to a single bank, you're working within that bank's specific policy and product set. A broker who works across a panel of specialist commercial lenders can identify which lenders are likely to be competitive for your specific transaction — property type, location, loan size, and your financial profile — before you formally apply. That matters because a declined application can affect your credit file.

The other practical difference is that commercial property transactions often require a business plan or cash flow forecast as part of the application package — something we prepare at no additional cost as part of our standard process. Whether you work with us or someone else, making sure your application is properly prepared before it goes to a lender is always worth the time.