Home loan specialists for franchisees

Ardent Capital Group brings the same method to every client: execution and strategy, clear advice for smart lending, and long-term growth. That means the right lender, structure and timing, straight advice so you borrow with confidence, and today's deal built toward where you want to be tomorrow. For franchisees that means using the system benchmarks a standalone business cannot produce, explaining royalties as the ordinary model costs they are, and handling an agreement term that is finite where a loan term is not. Commercial property for business owners is our main speciality. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

Rarely, so separate the two. A home loan is secured on the property and assessed on your whole position, so a finite agreement term matters much less there. It matters considerably more for lending against the business itself, where facilities are commonly sized against the remaining term. Documenting your renewal options and the system’s renewal record is what stops a lender taking the most conservative reading.

Across our lending we arrange finance from $50K up to $30M, and home loans sit within that range, including prestige purchases that fall outside standard bank policy. Your borrowing capacity comes down to income, existing commitments and the property itself.

They are ordinary costs of the model rather than a mark against the business, and because they are disclosed in the agreement they are easy to explain. The margin after them is the real margin, and your figures are compared against what the system reports for similar sites rather than a generic industry benchmark that carries no such costs.

No, and it is better to say so plainly. The mortgage insurance waivers are written around registered professions such as medicine, law and accounting. What is available to you instead is a lender that understands franchise accounts, possibly one accredited with your system, and a deposit structured sensibly. In practice the accreditation is worth more than a waiver would have been.

It means the lender has assessed the system itself and will lend against sites in it on set terms, rather than treating your business as an unknown. That usually shortens the assessment and can improve the terms. Accreditations exist mainly for larger systems and they change, so check the current position rather than rely on what was true a year ago.

Often yes, though it narrows the field. The majors commonly want two years of trading; second-tier lenders commonly accept twelve months. What helps in the first two years is the system’s maturity curve alongside your year-to-date figures, activity statements showing the trajectory, and an accountant’s letter separating one-off setup costs from the ongoing cost base. Where the returns are still thin, alt-doc is a bridge rather than a destination.

By separating the one-off costs from the ongoing ones, which is exactly what a first year needs. Initial franchise fees, fit-out and launch marketing land in year one and do not recur. An accountant’s letter identifying them, alongside year-to-date trading, lets a lender see the run rate rather than the setup. Depreciation on the fit-out is a further add-back.

Not necessarily, though the pressure is real in this sector because franchise assets are largely fit-out and the agreement rather than plant a lender can readily realise. A general security agreement over the business assets can carry the lending instead. Once your home is attached, selling or refinancing it involves both lenders for as long as the facility runs.

It is reachable, and the mechanism differs by side. For a home, 100% comes from bringing additional security: a family member offering their own property, or equity added from a property you already own. For a commercial purchase, up to 100% of the price is achievable where you add equity from a property you already own. In both cases your income still has to service the whole loan.

Decide the sequence rather than let it happen, because a second site consumes capital and borrowing capacity at the same time. Buying the home first is often cleaner, since capacity is highest before the new facility exists. A proven first site does strengthen the case for the second, so waiting is not always the cheaper option. We model both with real figures.

Generally yes, provided the group is presented as a group. Multiple sites demonstrate a proven operator and spread revenue, so one weak site does not decide the year. They also multiply the facilities and guarantees in your position. Consolidated figures across the group usually read as strength; separate entities with separate debts handed over piecemeal read as complexity.

Yes, and most franchisees already hold the business that way. What changes is how the income is traced: a distribution from a discretionary trust generally needs a consistent history before a lender treats it as income, and the entity accounts need to agree with what is being claimed. How you hold assets is a decision for you and your accountant.

Yes, and commercial property for business owners is our main speciality. It is assessed on the building and the lease rather than on your household, and our commercial mortgage for retail property page sets out how those purchases work. Rent you stop paying to a landlord is added back when serviceability is tested.

Generally two years of business financial statements and tax returns where available, two years of personal returns and notices of assessment, recent business activity statements, your franchise agreement including the term and renewal options, any system benchmark reporting, identification, and statements for existing debts and guarantees.

Pre-approval commonly comes through within a few days once the documents are together, and faster where the lender is accredited with your system. Full approval after you have found a property depends on the lender and the valuation. Assembling the franchise documentation is usually the slow part, so starting early helps.

In most cases our service does not cost you anything. We are paid by the lender once your loan settles, so you get the comparison across more than 40 lenders and the management of the process at no charge. If anything unusual applies to your situation, we will be upfront about it before any work begins.

Although we are based in Sydney, we service clients across all major Australian cities, including Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart, along with their surrounding regional areas. Wherever in Australia you are buying, we can arrange your home loan.

Commercial property for business owners is our main speciality, so alongside your home loan we arrange finance to buy the premises a site trades from, and to acquire an additional site. We also arrange fit-out and equipment finance for new sites and refits, and working capital for stock and wages.

No. Arranging finance and advising on financial products are two different disciplines, and we do the first. What we bring is the credit analysis lenders require, the structuring of the facility, and the strategy for putting your application in front of lenders whose appetite matches it.

Because we act as a credit representative under an Australian Credit Licence, we do not give financial product, superannuation, taxation or legal advice, and nothing we provide should be taken as such. Where your circumstances need that input, we are happy to work with your accountant, financial adviser and solicitor to understand the full picture before anything is submitted.

The information on this page is general in nature and does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs.