Refinance your mixed-use property

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. On a mixed-use refinance the work is in how the building gets read, because the commercial and residential halves are valued on different bases and the lender picks the valuer who decides which. We place the file accordingly and stay with it past drawdown. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

We refinance commercial facilities from $50K up to $30M, whether that is one shopfront with a flat above it or a small block of tenancies and dwellings. The new limit is set by the current valuation and by servicing, not by what you originally borrowed.

Because mixed use divides lenders more than most security types, and your bank can only tell you its own position. We do the legwork: we run the comparison across more than 40 lenders, work out which write mixed use as a product rather than as an exception, and present to one at a time so your credit file does not collect an enquiry for every conversation. We also model the break costs, valuation and legals against what moving actually gains you, and if it does not stack up we will tell you that.

Usually 60% to 70% of the current value, with the balance between commercial and residential income moving you within that range. A building weighted toward its commercial income is read differently to one where the dwellings carry most of it, and the figure follows a fresh valuation rather than the price you paid.

Because the hinge is the title rather than the proportions. Where one title carries commercial and residential content together, it is acceptable commercial security and unacceptable residential security, so the whole building is assessed commercially however small the shop is. That is why a mixed-use loan carries a term and a review rather than simply running the way a residential loan would.

Commonly twice inside one report. The commercial component is capitalised on the income it earns and the residential component is compared to sales nearby, then the two are combined. Some valuers apply a single commercial capitalisation to the whole building instead. The two approaches do not produce the same figure, which is why the lender you go to matters: it selects the valuer.

Where the building is held under a strata plan with separate lots, often yes, and it frequently prices better because each component is then assessed under the framework built for it. Where the building sits on one undivided title it stays on the commercial book, and whether that can change is a planning and legal question for your own advisers. We model both structures so the decision is made on real numbers.

Yes, where the current valuation supports it. Cash out on a commercial refinance is assessed on the purpose of the funds, so the lender wants to know what it is for. Refurbishing the residential part, rebuilding the shopfront, funding a deposit on the next building or clearing more expensive debt are all ordinary purposes. We evidence the purpose properly at the outset.

Yes, and it is one of the more common things that has moved. At purchase the residential income was a view a valuer took; with a lease and a payment history behind it, it is evidence. That firms up the servicing and it can shift where the building sits within the band, because the balance between commercial and residential income is one of the inputs a lender weighs.

Often not. Mixed use is where lender positions diverge most, so a decline frequently reflects the institution rather than the building. Some lenders write mixed use as an ordinary product with a panel that knows how to value it, and others take it as an exception. We look at why the answer was no, then place the file where that reason is not the deciding one.

Often yes, and it is one of the more useful things a refinance does. The caution is that not everything belongs on the building. Equipment for a business you run downstairs sits better on its own term against the equipment, and a working capital facility is there to flex rather than to be amortised. We map what belongs where and consolidate what genuinely benefits from long-term property security.

Four to six weeks from application to settlement for a straightforward file. A building with several tenancies takes longer because each lease has to be reviewed, and a split structure across two facilities adds a step. We give you a realistic timeline at the start so you can plan the expiry date around it.

The existing loan statements, the leases and rental statements for both the commercial and the residential parts, the rates notice, two to three years of financial statements and tax returns where you occupy the commercial part, personal tax returns and notices of assessment for the guarantors, and the strata plan and levies where one applies.

The costs are a valuation, legal and settlement fees, any lender establishment fee, discharge costs from your current lender, and break costs where you are leaving a fixed rate. Break costs are an economic cost, so they are calculated on the day and vary with how much fixed term is left. We put the real numbers against the benefit before you commit to anything.

This is the one asset class where the answer is usually no, and we are direct about it. From 10 August 2026 a new limited recourse borrowing arrangement over real property can only be used for business real property, and a building with a flat above the shop on the same title generally fails that test because it is not used wholly and exclusively in a business. Where a fund already holds a mixed-use property under an existing arrangement, a refinance is confined to the same single property at the balance outstanding plus accrued interest, so there is no top up, no redraw and no cash out, and cross-collateralisation is not available inside super. The characterisation turns on the facts of the particular property and is settled with your fund advisers before anything is lodged. We know this sounds complicated, and we can assist to make things clearer. Reach out to our team and we will guide you through the entire process. We arrange the finance, tell you which lenders will take the security and on what terms, and bring in the SMSF specialists and licensed advisers who set the fund side up. You will not be working it out on your own.

Most of the time, no. Where a refinance requires significant preparation due to its complexity, a small mandate fee may apply, and we will always be upfront about this 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 your building is located, we can arrange your finance.

Beyond refinancing the building, we also assist with asset finance and working capital, particularly where you trade from the commercial part yourself. On asset finance, that covers fitout, refrigeration, point of sale, plant and vehicles. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow funding, and we can fold these into the refinance where it makes sense.

Yes, and it is more common than you would think. The facility is set up at settlement and then simply runs, while both halves of the building quietly build the rental history the next valuation will read. That is our core ethos, helping you understand the right strategy, structure and clear advice from the very first conversation. Our main borrower profiles are established business owners and commercial property investors with facilities from $50,000 upwards. We will start by telling you what the building is likely to value at now and on which basis, what sits on your current facility, what moving costs, and whether it is worth making. If it is not, we will say so and you can stay where you are.