Commercial Property Loans Australia

In simple terms, a commercial mortgage is a business loan designed to help you purchase commercial property — whether that’s buying premises for your own business, or investing in commercial real estate.

Here’s how it typically works: You’ll need a 20% – 40% deposit (see our commercial property deposit guide), with loan terms ranging from 1 – 30 years, and interest rates from 5.95% – 10.20% p.a. In most cases, the property itself secures the loan. However, unlike residential lending, lenders also assess your business cashflow alongside the property value — particularly for owner-occupier loans. As a result, your repayment options usually include principal & interest or interest-only periods of up to 5 years.

Most commercial property loans require a 20% – 40% deposit of the property value. That said, the exact amount depends on your situation. For example, we find owner-occupiers can often access 85% LVR (meaning a 15% deposit), while investors typically need 30% – 40% deposits. In addition, premium property types like medical centres can sometimes achieve up to 95% LVR — provided we match you with the right lender.

It’s also important to remember that your deposit isn’t the only upfront cost. On top of that, you’ll need to budget for stamp duty, legal fees, and valuations — typically totalling another 5–6% of the purchase price. To put that in perspective, for a $1M property, you’ll generally need $250,000–$350,000 in total upfront capital.

If you’re short on deposit, don’t worry — we can help you explore alternatives, including bridging finance or vendor finance structures.

This is something we always make sure our clients understand upfront, because unexpected costs can derail a purchase.

Additional costs typically total 5–6% of the purchase price, and include:

• Stamp duty (varies by state)
• Legal fees: $3,000–$15,000
• Building inspection: $1,500–$3,000
• Valuation: $2,000–$5,000
• Loan establishment: 0.5–1% of loan amount

What many people don’t realise is that it’s often possible to include these costs in your loan amount — provided you have sufficient equity. As a general guide, we advise budgeting approximately $50K–$90K in extra costs for a $1M property purchase.

To get a clearer picture of your specific numbers, use our handy commercial property finance calculator to estimate your likely repayments and overall financial position.

Calculate stamp duty on commercial property > 

Current commercial property interest rates range from 5.95% – 10.20% p.a. However, your specific rate depends on several factors — including property type, loan structure, location, leasing arrangements, business cashflow, and your credit history. As a result, two borrowers buying similar properties can end up with quite different rates.

For a full breakdown by loan type and property type, visit our commercial property loan interest rates page.

In our experience, getting a commercial property loan can take anywhere from 1 to 12 weeks, with 4–8 weeks being the most common timeframe. Ultimately, it depends on the complexity of your loan and your chosen lender’s requirements.

Here’s what a typical commercial property loan timeline looks like:

• Pre-qualification: 1–2 weeks with complete documentation
• Formal approval: 2–4 weeks after the property contract is signed
• Settlement: 4–6 weeks from contract exchange
• Fast-track options: Some specialist lenders can offer 2–3 week settlements

Of course, every loan application is different. For instance, commercial construction loans will usually take considerably longer than an urgent bridging loan. Nevertheless, there’s still a lot of complexity to navigate regardless of the loan type.

One thing we always tell our clients: the single biggest factor that affects your speed to approval is documentation completeness. Incomplete applications can extend timeframes by 2–4 weeks. That’s why our streamlined process focuses on getting your documentation right from the start — which, combined with our lender relationships across 60+ lenders, typically means faster approvals than going direct.

Having your documentation ready upfront makes a significant difference to both your approval speed and your chances of success. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Business financials: Normally 2 years of financial statements and tax returns
• Bank statements: 6 months of business and personal accounts
• Property documentation: Contract of sale, building reports, and rental appraisals
• Business plan: A business plan and cash flow projections are common requirements for a commercial property loan application. Importantly, unlike other brokers or lenders, we can prepare your business plan and cash flow forecast for you — at no extra cost.
• Personal identification: Copies of your driver’s licence, Medicare card, and asset statements are typically required. For a complete list, refer to our full documentation checklist here.

Professional tip: In our experience, having complete documentation ready from day one can reduce your approval time by as much as 50%. That’s a significant advantage when you’re working to a settlement deadline.

Yes — and this is one of the key reasons many of our clients choose to buy rather than rent. Commercial property ownership offers several potential tax advantages that can significantly improve your overall returns.

Specifically, most owners can claim depreciation on the building and fit-out (typically 2.5–4% annually), deduct all commercial loan interest and property expenses, and potentially access capital gains tax discounts for properties held over 12 months.

Beyond that, the benefits vary depending on your structure. For owner-occupiers, you’ll stop paying rent and start building tax-effective wealth instead. For investors, negative gearing strategies can mean you benefit from generally higher depreciation than residential property. Furthermore, SMSF commercial property purchases offer additional tax benefits through concessional super tax rates of 15%.

That said, we always recommend talking to your accountant about structuring through trusts or companies for optimal tax outcomes — because the right structure can make a substantial difference to your after-tax position.