Small commercial building loans — Maryland market example. Nationwide: Jaken Finance Group finances commercial bridge and owner-occupied acquisition in all 50 states. Hubs: owner-occupied commercial loans · assisted living facility financing.
Maryland sits inside the DMV capital belt — federal workforce demographics, Prince George’s group-home and RAL demand, and Montgomery medical/office owner-user bays create steady sub-$2M commercial deal flow. This page covers Maryland-specific economics — not a geographic limit on lending.
Licensing: Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration · Group-home playbook: group home investing DMV
Maryland commercial segments
| Segment | Geography | Typical buy | Product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group home / RAL | Prince George’s, Charles, Anne Arundel | $350K–$650K SFR | Bridge → SBA 7(a) |
| Retail / office owner-user | Bethesda, Rockville, Columbia | $500K–$1.8M | Bridge → SBA 504 |
| Warehouse flex | I-95 corridor, BWI area | $600K–$2.2M | Bridge or bank |
| Mixed-use Baltimore | Hampden, Remington, Highlandtown | $400K–$1.2M | Case-by-case |
Assisted living angle: assisted living financing Washington DC · DMV cross-border investing
Bridge terms (Maryland small commercial)
| Parameter | Range |
|---|---|
| Rates | 8.99%–13.5% interest-only |
| LTV | Up to 90% of purchase on qualified files |
| Term | 12–24 months |
| Close | 7–10 business days on a complete file |
| Holdback | CapEx on group-home conversion or TI |
Owner-occupied path: 51% occupancy rule · bridge now, SBA later
Worked example: Hyattsville group home
Acquisition: $395,000 SFR — conditional use for 6-bed IDD group home approved.
| Phase | Detail |
|---|---|
| Conversion CapEx | $155,000 — sprinkler, ADA, fire alarm |
| License timeline | 11 months — DDA + fire marshal |
| Stabilized census | 5 of 6 beds — Medicaid waiver + private |
| Monthly gross | ~$38,000 blended |
| Bridge | 70% LTV + conversion holdback |
| IO carry @ 11% | Budget 18-month term |
| Exit | SBA 7(a) at month 20 |
Link: hard money lenders Hyattsville MD · Prince George’s County hard money
Worked example: Rockville owner-user medical bay
Purchase: $890,000 — 2,400 sf office condo, practice occupies 100%.
| Step | Detail |
|---|---|
| Bridge close | 68% LTV — beat competing cash buyer |
| Month 14 | Trailing P&L at address |
| SBA 504 refi | 10% down on appraised $920K |
| Outcome | Bridge retired; fixed-rate permanent debt |
Compare Arlington collar: hard money lenders Arlington VA — no MD transfer tax but different basis.
Maryland due diligence
- County transfer and recordation tax — budget 1%–2%+ combined
- Flood — coastal, Chesapeake tributaries, PG floodplains
- Fire code — sprinkler triggers on care facilities by bed count
- Zoning — group home density caps vary by municipality
- Phase I environmental — on former gas/auto sites in flex inventory
Owner-occupied vs. investment
| Use | Product |
|---|---|
| Your business occupies 51%+ | Owner-occupied commercial |
| Tenant-operated retail/office | Commercial CRE financing or DSCR |
| Licensed care facility | Assisted living hub |
Risks
- County zoning denial — group home caps
- Maryland fire code upgrades — mid-project scope creep
- Bridge carry through license-up — 18+ months possible
- Medicaid rate changes — on waiver-heavy homes
- Transfer tax at refi — model cash-to-close
Maryland county transfer tax comparison
Small commercial and group-home files must model county-specific recordation and transfer — PG is not Montgomery:
| County | Combined transfer stack (approx) | Group-home fit |
|---|---|---|
| Prince George’s | 1.4%–1.8% | Strong — zoning + DDA |
| Montgomery | 1.8%–2.2% | Private-pay RAL |
| Anne Arundel | 1.2%–1.6% | BWI corridor flex |
| Baltimore City | 2.0%+ | Mixed-use value-add |
Hyattsville 6-bed example: $395K acquisition plus $155K CapEx needs 18-month bridge when DDA licensing runs long — IO at 11% on $380K funded equals ~$3,480/mo before staffing.
Baltimore mixed-use vs. PG group-home — product selection
| Thesis | Geography | Product |
|---|---|---|
| IDD group home | PG, Charles, Anne Arundel | Bridge → SBA 7(a) |
| Medical office owner-user | Rockville, Columbia | Bridge → SBA 504 |
| Mixed-use Baltimore row | Hampden, Remington | Bridge-only until stabilized NOI |
| Warehouse flex | I-95 / BWI | Bridge → bank or 504 |
Baltimore mixed-use often stays bridge-only until 12-month NOI proves — do not assume day-one SBA on vacant upper units. Pair with hard money lenders Maryland when speed beats bank pre-approval on Hampden and Remington mixed-use.
Sponsor profile — who closes Maryland small commercial bridge
Typical Maryland sub-$2M commercial bridge sponsor: first or second care-facility conversion, medical practice buying condo bay, or value-add retail in PG/I-95 corridor. We expect liquidity for transfer tax and 6 months IO, operator or practice P&L at entity level, and defined exit (SBA 504, 7(a), or community bank) before term sheet — not open-ended spec carry.
Related
- County zoning letter — group-home bed cap
- DDA or fire marshal pre-meeting — sprinkler scope
- Phase I on former auto/gas flex sites
- Flood cert — Chesapeake tributaries and PG floodplain
- Transfer tax quote from title — county-specific
- SBA pre-screen for owner-user exits
Related
- Hard money lenders Prince George’s County MD
- Hard money lenders Bethesda MD
- Hard money lenders Maryland
- Converting SFR to RAL
- Owner-occupied commercial DC
Request a Maryland commercial review with the building use, owner-occupancy plan and repair scope. Include any licensing work that must finish before the business opens. The commercial financing guide explains the broader loan choices.
Maryland market example only — Jaken Finance Group lends on small commercial nationwide.
Housing costs around the building, not the building’s rent
A group home’s revenue is a licensed census and a payer mix. It is not a residential fair market rent. HUD’s FY 2027 Small Area Fair Market Rents still show what housing costs in the ZIP around the real estate. That matters for staff, for a residential fallback if the license slips, and for why Rockville and Hyattsville are not the same basis.
Prince George’s figures are on the Prince George’s County FY 2027 table. Montgomery figures are on the Montgomery County FY 2027 table.
| ZIP | Place this guide uses | 2-bedroom | 3-bedroom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20782 | Hyattsville | $2,360 | $3,010 |
| 20783 | Hyattsville | $2,220 | $2,830 |
| 20850 | Rockville | $2,990 | $3,810 |
| 20814 | Bethesda | $3,020 | $3,850 |
ZIP 20782’s two-bedroom voucher rent is $2,360. ZIP 20850’s is $2,990. The $630 gap is a cost-of-place marker. Do not paste either number into the group-home gross. The Hyattsville example already uses about $38,000 a month of blended census income, which is an operating-business figure, not a two-bedroom lease.
504 money cannot carry the license-up
The bridge buys time. The SBA product has to match the use of funds.
The 504 loan page describes fixed-rate financing for major fixed assets. Eligible uses include buying, building, or renovating a building or land, and long-term equipment. A 504 loan cannot fund working capital or inventory, and it cannot fund speculation or investment in rental real estate. The body of the page says the maximum 504 loan is $5.5 million. The lead line says up to $5 million. Confirm the cap with the Certified Development Company. Terms offered are 10, 20, and 25 years.
A group home that still needs furniture, payroll during license-up, or a Medicaid billing float cannot put that cash inside the 504 real estate loan. The 7(a) page caps 7(a) at $5 million and allows real estate plus working capital, equipment, and furniture. That is why the Hyattsville example exits to 7(a), and the Rockville medical bay, occupied 100% by the practice, exits to 504.
13 CFR 120.131, current as of October 5, 2026, requires at least 51% occupancy by the borrower on an existing building. The borrower may permanently lease up to 49%. A vacant upper floor in a Baltimore mixed-use row fails that test until someone in the borrowing business actually uses the space. Bridge-only, until the occupancy is real, is the honest path. Do not promise a day-one 504 on empty units.
How the worked loans sit under the cap
Qualified bridge loans go up to 90% of purchase, at 8.99%–13.5% interest-only, for 12–24 months. A complete file closes in 7–10 business days. The examples on this page do not max the cap.
| Example | Price | Leverage used | Loan | Versus the 90% cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyattsville group home | $395,000 | 70% of price, plus a conversion holdback | $276,500 before holdback | Under the cap |
| Rockville medical bay | $890,000 | 68% of price | $605,200 | Under the cap |
Illustration. Interest-only at 11% on the $276,500 Hyattsville advance is $2,534.58 a month. Eighteen months of that interest is $45,622.50, before any conversion holdback accrues interest of its own. That is the carry the census income has to outrun. It is not a quote. Price the holdback draws the same way once they fund.
The Rockville practice already occupies 100%, which clears the 51% rule with room to spare. The bridge is there to beat a cash buyer, then the 504 retires it. Deed stamps still have to be quoted by the title company for that county. Prince George’s, Montgomery, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore City do not charge the same stack, so there is no single Maryland transfer-tax rate to drop into every file.
A 7(a) borrower also has to show the lender it could not get the credit on reasonable terms from a non-government source, and that the business is for-profit, operating, and small under SBA size rules. A practice that already has a bank term sheet at a market rate may fail that test. Say so early. Do not spend the bridge term discovering the takeout was never available.
Send the license path, the occupancy map, and the exit program through the commercial scenario form. Jaken Finance Group lends on this bridge in all 50 states. The Maryland examples are the local math. Call (833) 264-7776.
Maryland small commercial — bridge-to-SBA file gates (2026)
Maryland small CRE files fail when group-home operating business is underwritten as vanilla retail NOI, or leverage is sized with no SBA exit even though qualified files can reach 90% of purchase.
- Group home / RAL: Prince George’s $350K–$650K SFR → bridge → SBA 7(a)
- Owner-user retail/office: Bethesda/Rockville $500K–$1.8M → bridge → SBA 504
- Bridge: Up to 90% of purchase at 8.99%–13.5% interest-only. Close in 7–10 business days on a complete file. Worked examples below size lower on purpose.
- Nationwide: Same bridge stack in all 50 states — Maryland is market example only
Underwriting anchor: Acquisition: $395,000 SFR — conditional use for 6-bed IDD group home approved. — replay specialty corridor math from this page before locking bridge, SBA, or DSCR term. Bridge on licensed operating plan · Assisted living hub · (833) 264-7776.