Commercial Property Down Payment Funding

Commercial property down payment funding is personal equity on a building that is not a 1–4 unit DSCR rental and not a six-month flip. Jaken Finance Group originates commercial real estate financing — bridge, hard money, and DSCR-style debt on income property. When the equity check is $50,000–$500,000, an unsecured business-purpose term loan can fill part of it in 3–10 business days. Terms are 3, 5, or 7 years. Pricing is quoted per file in an approximate 6%–18% band by Preferred Funding Group.

The educational test is two questions: does NOI cover the property debt, and do you still cover the unsecured note? Commercial lenders will not add your personal installment to the building’s DSCR. Your checking account will.

Pre-qualify for commercial down payment funding →

Parent product: unsecured term loans. Down-payment benchmarks by asset class: commercial loan down payment requirements. Residential rental equity: DSCR down payment funding. Flip equity: fix-and-flip down payment funding.

Why commercial buyers look for a personal equity layer

Commercial LTV is harsher than a 1–4 unit DSCR purchase. A $1,100,000 mixed-use at 25% down is $275,000 before origination, title, and reserves. Four reasons this page exists:

• The term sheet is 75% LTV on a leased industrial; you have 18% liquid after earnest money.
• A 1031 is in flight and the replacement needs more cash than the exchange will wire on day one. See 1031 exchange bridge loans.
• You are buying a value-add mixed-use: retail leased, upstairs vacant. Bridge will fund the building; you still write a check.
• You would rather not sell a performing asset to make the equity on the next one.

None of those is a reason to lever a broken NOI. If in-place rent does not cover property debt service at a number you can defend, borrowing the down payment just adds a personal payment on a thin building.

What the commercial lender sees vs what you feel

Layer	Who underwrites it	What it covers	Rate context
Property debt	Jaken Finance Group (or another CRE lender)	Purchase or bridge of the building	Term-sheet rate. Bridge-style carry, when used, 8.99%–13.5%
Equity check	You, partners, or this unsecured note	20%–35%+ of purchase	Unsecured approx. 6%–18%, quoted per file
Reserves / TI / capex	You	Tenant improvements, vacancy, taxes	Cash — not this loan

SBA loan programs can be the cheaper long-term stack when the occupant is an operating business and 45–90 days is acceptable. SBA 504 in particular is built for owner-occupied CRE with a low equity check. This page is not 504. It is a personal installment next to investment-purpose commercial debt.

CFPB Ability-to-Repay describes owner-occupied mortgage credit. A leased commercial building is business-purpose property debt. The unsecured note is also business-purpose.

Model it before you apply

The calculator does not invent a commercial mortgage rate. Enter the rate on your term sheet. Default load: $1,100,000 purchase, 25% equity ($275,000), $92,000 annual NOI, 8.99% property debt on a 25-year amortization, and a $275,000 unsecured note at an illustrative 11.5% over 7 years. Property DSCR is NOI ÷ property payment. Cash after both is NOI minus property payment minus the unsecured installment. If that leftover is negative, the building cash-flows the lender and not you.

NOI / cap-rate / DSCR without the personal note: commercial property calculator. Tool-only unsecured payment: unsecured term loan calculator.

Worked example: Milwaukee mixed-use that still covers both

Purchase $1,100,000. First-floor retail leased; four apartments above. In-place NOI $92,000. Property lender wants 25% down. Unsecured $275,000 at an illustrative 11.5% over 7 years is about $4,800 a month.

• Property DSCR at 8.99% / 25-year amortizing on a $825,000 loan is the number the CRE desk cares about.
• Unsecured P&I is the number your other properties, W-2, or operating company have to cover if leftover NOI is thin.
• If the building prints 1.20x and leftover after the personal note is still positive, the stack can make sense.
• If you are counting on pro forma rent from vacant upstairs units, do not size the unsecured note to that fantasy. Size it to in-place NOI, then treat lease-up as upside.

Worked example: Phoenix industrial that should not borrow the last 10%

Purchase $2,400,000. Required equity 30% = $720,000. You have $450,000 liquid. The gap is $270,000 — inside the unsecured box. In-place NOI is $118,000. At a term-sheet 7.5% / 25-year amortizing loan of $1,680,000, property debt service is already tight. Adding ~$4,700 a month unsecured on a 7-year 11.5% note pushes leftover cash negative.

Do not take the unsecured note for the last 10%. Bring a partner, buy a smaller building, or wait for a lease that supports the leverage. The program maximum is not the same as the amount this NOI can carry.

On a $2.4 million file, unsecured capital can only ever be part of the equity. The box caps at $500,000. Plan the rest as cash, partners, or a 1031.

Asset-class equity vs this product

Asset	Typical equity (see 2026 guide)	Fit for this note
Small multifamily / mixed-use	20%–30%	Often — if NOI is real
Industrial / warehouse	20%–30%	Often — watch tenant concentration
Anchored retail	25%–35%	Maybe — underwrite co-tenancy
Office	35%–50%	Rarely — equity dollars usually exceed $500K
Hospitality	35%–50%	Rarely as the full gap; maybe as a slice

Full table: commercial real estate loan down payment requirements 2026. Asset-class programs: commercial property loans by asset class.

Commercial down payment vs other equity tools

Need	Better first call
Personal slice of a 20–35% CRE equity check	This page
1–4 unit rental, 15–25% down	DSCR down payment funding
Short-term flip, not a hold	Fix-and-flip down payment funding
Owner-occupied operating company, can wait 45–90 days	SBA 504 or SBA 7(a)
Second lien on the same commercial asset	Gap lending
Energy retrofit on the building	C-PACE — not down-payment cash

What the application asks

Expect two years of personal tax returns, a FICO 8 report, identity, entity documents, and a use-of-funds statement that says commercial investment-property equity. There is no published FICO floor on the unsecured file. The property file still needs a rent roll, T-12 or equivalent, and a term sheet. Do not send the CRE desk a personal installment as if it were additional NOI.

Risks that show up after closing

• Two clocks. Permanent commercial debt may amortize 20–25 years. The unsecured note may be done in 5–7. Front-loaded personal payments are the stress.
• Interest-only bridge + amortizing personal note. If the property layer is IO, the building payment looks cheap until takeout. The unsecured payment does not wait for takeout.
• Do not invent the property rate. Paste the term sheet. Mixing 6%–18% unsecured illustration into the building payment is how files get lied to.
• Capex is not this loan. Tenant improvements, roof, and HVAC still need a budget. This note is the equity check, not the capex line.

How to apply

1. Run the calculator on in-place NOI until property DSCR is honest and cash after both payments is a number you can live with.
2. Submit a commercial scenario with Jaken Finance Group for the building.
3. Submit the unsecured financing form for the equity slice.
4. Keep the two files separate. The CRE underwriter prices the building. Preferred Funding Group prices you.

Pre-qualify for commercial down payment funding · Commercial financing · (833) 264-7776

Sources

• SBA — loan programs
• CFPB — Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage standards

Paste the commercial term-sheet rate; do not invent one. Unsecured equity-check pricing is quoted per file by Preferred Funding Group. Calculator leftover cash is an educational estimate against the NOI you typed, not a loan offer from Jaken Finance Group.