Refinance your retail property loan

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 retail refinance the work is in deciding how the file should be assessed, because a shop presented on the rent alone and the same shop presented on full financials do not gear the same. We put the evidence together, take it where it counts, 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 a single shop you want repriced or several retail assets you would rather hold under one structure. The new limit is set by the current valuation and by servicing, not by what you originally borrowed.

Because your bank can only tell you what your bank will do, and retail is standard commercial security written by a wide group of banks and non-banks with genuinely different appetites. We do the legwork: we run the comparison across more than 40 lenders, work out which are actively writing retail at your loan size, 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.

Up to 80% of the current value on full financials. Retail is standard commercial security, grouped with offices and warehouses rather than with specialised assets. Where the file is assessed on the rent alone the cap sits lower, which is why the assessment basis matters as much as the property.

It is the difference between how much of your position a lender verifies. Where it takes the lease and little else, the assessment is narrower and the maximum sits below the full doc line, tightening further as the loan size grows. With trading or rental history behind you the file goes forward on full financials and reaches the standard commercial maximum. Most owners have that history by the time of their first refinance, so put it to work.

Three to six months before your expiry or review date gives you room to choose rather than react. A commercial facility is written to a term and then falls due, unlike a home loan that simply runs. Starting early means the valuation, the financials and the comparison are done while the existing loan is still in place, so nothing is decided by a deadline.

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. A deposit on a second store, a fitout refresh, a shopfront rebuild or clearing more expensive stock debt are all ordinary purposes. We evidence the purpose properly at the outset, which is what keeps it straightforward.

Often not. A decline on a top up is one lender applying one policy on one day, and it is not a view the whole market shares. Retail is standard commercial security, so it is written by a wide group of banks and non-banks with genuinely different appetites on LVR, loan size and how they read self-employed income. We look at why the answer was no, then place the file where that reason is not the deciding one.

On a tenanted shop it is central, because the rent is what services the loan. Lenders look at the term left on the lease, the quality of the tenant and whether the rent sits at market, and a long lease supports the loan term as well as the approval. On premises you occupy yourself the assessment runs off your own trading figures instead, which is often the stronger case once the business has a record.

Yes, and it is usually the better structure. Stock is bought before the season it sells in, so the facility that carries it should revolve through the year rather than be amortised across a property term. A refinance is the natural point to separate the two, and to size the working capital facility against the peak rather than the average.

Four to six weeks from application to settlement for a straightforward file. Portfolio consolidations take longer, because each discharge has to be coordinated, and SMSF refinances take longer again. We give you a realistic timeline at the start so you can plan the expiry date around it.

The existing loan statements, two to three years of financial statements and tax returns for the trading entity, personal tax returns and notices of assessment for the guarantors, a statement of assets and liabilities, and details of any other facilities. For a tenanted shop we also need the lease and the rental statements. We work through the list with you at the start rather than asking for things one at a time.

Then we work with the position as it is rather than the one you hoped for. If the balance now sits above the new lender maximum, a partial repayment at settlement can bring it into range and open up the rest of the market. Where the financials do not yet show current trading, alt-doc assessment is available with several lenders. We tell you which of these applies before any application is lodged.

Each application creates a credit enquiry that stays on your file, and several in a short period can affect how the next lender reads you. That is why we assess your position first and present to one lender at a time rather than shopping the file around. It is the same reason we ask for the documents up front.

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.

Yes, it is possible, and we arrange these. It is also one of the more intricate refinances in commercial finance, and the detail is what decides whether it works. From 10 August 2026 a new arrangement can only be used for business real property. A shop trading wholly as a business qualifies whether you or a tenant runs it, though a shop with a flat above it on the same title generally does not. It has to stay the same single property, and it is limited to the balance outstanding plus accrued interest, so there is no top up, no redraw and no cash out inside the fund. The holding trust is reassigned to the incoming lender rather than dissolved, which carries a legal cost worth weighing against the gain. Where your own entity occupies the shop it leases it back in writing, at market rent supported by an independent appraisal, and the rent has to actually be paid. Cross-collateralisation is not available inside super. Reassign the holding trust to the incoming lender on the same single property, the major banks have exited SMSF lending, and lenders want a liquidity buffer left in the fund after settlement. 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 structure the finance, tell you which lenders will take retail premises as SMSF 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 retail premises are located, we can arrange your finance.

Yes, and it is more common than you would think. Plenty of owners settle a purchase and never look at the loan again until the expiry letter arrives, by which time the file usually supports a better assessment than the one it was written on. 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 premises are likely to value at now, 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.