Commercial Property Loans for Business Acquisition: The Complete Guide
Buying a business and thinking about buying the building too? It's one of the most common questions business buyers ask us — and one of the least understood. The business is priced, the numbers work, and then someone mentions the premises are also for sale. Suddenly you're not just buying a business anymore — you're making a property decision too, and the two don't always move at the same speed, need the same deposit, or come from the same lender.
The important point: buying the business and buying the property are connected, but they don't have to be funded in exactly the same way.
Meet Daniel
Daniel is 34. After eight years managing venues for other people, he's found a business he wants to own: a well-known café on a busy strip in Melbourne's inner east, with loyal regulars and a retiring owner ready to sell. The business itself isn't the hard part — the premises are. Daniel's story touches almost every property question a business buyer runs into, so we'll come back to him throughout this guide.
The Business and the Property Are Two Different Things
Buying a business and buying its premises are two separate transactions — even when they're offered to you as one package. Think of it like buying a restaurant. The business is the goodwill, the equipment, the stock, the staff and the customer base. The property is the building and the land it sits on. They're related. They are not the same asset.
That distinction matters because:
- They can be financed separately, even if purchased at the same time.
- They can require completely different deposit levels.
- One of them can fall through without the other one dying with it.
Buying the business and buying the property are connected, but they don't have to be funded in exactly the same way.
Can You Actually Get a Loan to Buy Business Premises?
Potentially, yes.
Commercial property finance can be used to purchase eligible business premises, subject to the lender's assessment of the property, the borrower and the overall transaction. A lender will typically look at:
- The property itself — type, location, valuation, marketability
- Your financial position as the borrower
- The business and its financial performance, where relevant
- Available equity or contribution
- The proposed loan amount and structure
- Cash flow and servicing capacity
- How the whole transaction fits together
The property may provide the security, but the lender is still assessing the whole picture — not just the walls.
How Much Deposit Do You Actually Need?
This is the first question almost every buyer asks — and the honest answer disappoints most of them: there's no single commercial property deposit percentage that applies to everyone. The contribution required depends on the lender, the property type, your financial position, the loan structure and the overall risk profile of the deal.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Property price | $1,000,000 |
| Illustrative loan | $800,000 |
| Illustrative contribution | $200,000 |
That's an 80% LVR, with the remaining $200,000 contributed by the buyer. Important: this is an illustration only — it doesn't mean 80% LVR is available for every property or every borrower. And that $200,000 isn't the whole story: transfer duty, legal and conveyancing costs, valuation fees and lender fees also need to be covered, so don't assume every dollar of savings can go toward the property contribution.
What If You Don't Have Enough Cash?
If you don't have enough cash for the required contribution, it may be worth investigating whether another structure can form part of the overall transaction, such as:
- Existing equity in another property
- Other available assets
- Separate funding arrangements for the business and the property
- Alternative commercial lending structures
- Whether an SMSF structure is appropriate for eligible business real property
These are potential pathways to investigate — not guaranteed alternatives to a normal deposit. The right structure always depends on the individual transaction.
Could Your SMSF Buy the Property?
An SMSF can potentially invest in eligible commercial property — including business real property — provided the relevant superannuation rules are satisfied. Self-managed super is a genuinely large part of the property landscape: 672,805+ SMSFs in Australia (ATO, March 2026 quarter), $1.06 trillion+ in total SMSF assets, and around 18% of SMSF assets held directly in property (combining residential and commercial holdings).
An SMSF is not simply a bank account that lets you withdraw your super and use it as a normal property deposit. The SMSF has its own legal structure, investment strategy, trustee responsibilities and superannuation rules. In certain circumstances it can borrow to acquire a permitted asset through a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement (LRBA) — a specialised structure, not a variation on a normal commercial loan.
Your business may also be able to lease premises owned by your own SMSF, where the property qualifies as business real property and the relevant rules are met — but related-party leasing arrangements need to be structured correctly, with proper advice. If you're considering an SMSF structure to acquire business premises, get appropriate financial, tax and legal advice before proceeding.
What Happens When the Landlord Won't Sell?
Daniel asks the question every buyer eventually asks: "Would the landlord sell the building too?" The answer comes back: no. Here's what a lot of buyers get wrong at this exact moment: they treat it as the deal falling over. It isn't. The business sale and the property sale were never legally the same transaction. When a landlord refuses to sell, the business can still be purchased, financed and settled on its own, while the property question becomes a separate decision.
Why "Nearby" Does Almost All the Work
If a business depends on people walking past it, driving past it, or already knowing exactly where to find it, its customer base is tied to a handful of specific streets. There's no universal radius for how close a replacement site needs to be — the useful test is whether the alternative sits inside the same everyday movement pattern as your existing customers, not just inside the same postcode.
What to Look For in a Replacement Property
- Comparable visibility and passing trade — not just floor space
- Position inside the same practical customer catchment
- A layout and permitted use that genuinely fits the business
- Realistic overlap between the current lease ending and the new site being ready to trade
- A lease structure that gives real long-term certainty
What Does a Lender Actually Look At?
Commercial lending is more nuanced than just the value of the property:
- The property — type, location, valuation, marketability, proposed use, tenancy
- The business — where the purchase forms part of a business acquisition, its performance matters too
- The borrower — income, assets, liabilities, credit history, experience, existing commitments
- The overall transaction — how the business, property and proposed debt fit together as a whole
What Does the Current Interest Rate Environment Mean?
As at August 2026, the RBA cash rate target is 4.35%. This isn't the same as the rate you'll actually pay — commercial lending rates vary by lender, borrower, property and structure. On an $800,000 loan, a 1 percentage point difference in rate represents roughly $8,000 a year in interest, on a simple interest-only basis, before fees, principal repayments or balance changes.
(RBA rate verified current as at 31 August 2026 — the Board held at 4.35% on 11 August 2026, with the next review scheduled for 29 September 2026.)
Should You Buy the Premises or Keep Renting?
There's no universal answer. Buying gives you greater control and a separate property asset, but requires more capital and borrowing capacity. Renting preserves capital and reduces the upfront requirement, but leaves the business dependent on its lease and its landlord.
The better question isn't "Can I buy the building?" It's "Does buying the building make sense within the overall acquisition and funding strategy?"
Frequently Asked Questions
Potentially. Commercial property finance can be used to purchase eligible business premises, subject to lender requirements, the property, borrower circumstances and the overall transaction.
There's no universal deposit requirement — it depends on the lender, property, borrower, loan structure and overall transaction.
Potentially. They can form part of the same overall transaction, though they may require different funding structures.
The business purchase can generally proceed on its own. The property becomes a separate search for suitable premises, ideally within the same local catchment the business already trades in.
An SMSF can potentially acquire eligible commercial property, including in certain circumstances through an LRBA, subject to superannuation legislation and the fund's circumstances.
There's no universal answer — it depends on the business's cash flow, available capital, financing costs, liquidity and long-term plans.
Final Thoughts
A landlord saying no doesn't end a business acquisition — it just changes the shape of it. A deposit shortfall doesn't necessarily end it either — it just changes the structure. Daniel didn't need to walk away from the café. He needed to stop treating the building and the business as one decision.
Buying a Business and Considering the Premises Too?
Before you commit to a transaction, it's worth understanding how the business purchase, any commercial property, and your available equity could fit together. At Probiz Finance, we help business buyers work through exactly this — separating what needs to be financed now from what can be planned for a few months down the track.
Buying a Business and Considering the Premises Too?
Before committing to the transaction, understand how the business purchase, commercial property and available equity could fit together.
Discuss Your Finance OptionsRelated reading:
Probiz Finance ABN 52 661 057 647 | Credit Representative Number 542838 is authorised under Australian Credit Licence No. 384704. Your full financial situation and requirements need to be considered prior to any offer and acceptance of a loan product.
Australian Bureau of Statistics — Lending Indicators, June Quarter 2026.
Reserve Bank of Australia — Cash Rate Target, August 2026.
Australian Taxation Office — SMSF Quarterly Statistical Report (30 June 2025 and March 2026 quarters) and SMSF Statistical Overview 2022–23.
Data note: Market statistics and regulatory information can change. Check the relevant government or regulatory source before relying on current figures for a specific transaction.