June 24, 2026 Retail & Consumer Services

What Pet Store Owners Should Know About Commercial Property Finance

Buying the premises your pet store already trades from is a defining step for any retailer. At Ardent Capital Group we speak with owners about this kind of commercial property purchase regularly, so this guide sets out how a lender values a retail shopfront, what deposit and structure to expect, and how to keep the finance working for your growth.

Ardent Capital Group is a specialist in commercial mortgages for pet store operators across Australia. Our team can help you move from tenant to owner, and give you clear lending advice on structure and strategy.

We arrange facilities from $100,000 to $10,000,000 and above.
We have facilitated over $500,000,000 in funding across the last decade.
We service Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and surrounding regional towns.
We work with owner-occupiers and investors across strata retail, freehold high street, neighbourhood centres and showroom warehouse sites.

The case for owning your pet store premises

A pet store fit-out is capital heavy and sticky. Think long-run shelving, aquariums with filtration and life support, hydrobaths and grooming stations, freezers for raw food, purpose plumbing, floor drains, odour control, POS, CCTV, quarantine space for live animals and back-of-house storage. Location drives walk-in trade and click-and-collect, especially near supermarkets, high street clusters and bulky goods precincts. Repeat spend on pet food, treats, grooming and parasite prevention supports steady demand through economic cycles. Repayments build equity in an owned asset, which can be refinanced later to release working capital.

Main drivers:

Control of tenure and signage: reduce relocation risk and secure long leases to match customer habits.
Protect sunk fit-out: keep heavy capex working for you rather than handing it to a landlord on expiry.
Convert rent to equity: repayments build ownership and a balance-sheet asset.
Operational flexibility: modify store layout, add services like grooming or training without landlord friction.
Yield and tax settings: potential rental yield to your property entity if your trading business is the tenant.

Buying suits some owners more than others. A short lease horizon with uncertain renewal, a planned move to a better catchment, or capital that earns more deployed into inventory, e-commerce or a second site can all point the other way. The decision is yours.

We can arrange a pet store property loan end to end, from lender selection through to settlement.

Financing a pet store: how it works

Deposit and LVR. Owner-occupier loan-to-value ratios reach up to 75 to 80 per cent on standard commercial security, so the deposit starts from around 20 per cent. The major banks do not publish an owner-occupier commercial LVR and assess these purchases case by case, which is one reason a broker helps. Where you already own other property, some borrowers reach up to 100 per cent of the purchase price by adding that security, subject to lender criteria.
Loan term and structure. Terms run to 25 to 30 years with non-bank lenders, while the banks' commercial products commonly run 10 to 15 years. Structures include principal and interest for steady amortisation, or interest only to prioritise cash flow during a refit or inventory build.
Security and serviceability. The property is the primary security. Lenders assess serviceability from your trading financials, typically historical profitability, BAS, seasonality around holidays and parasite-control peaks, and stock turn on food, accessories and live animals.
Owner-occupier treatment. Lenders generally view owner-occupied purchases favourably, given lower default correlation and a stronger commitment to the site.

How the deal is put together

Many pet store operators already hold the real estate in a separate entity, such as a company or trust, that leases the premises back to the trading business at a commercial rent. A lender then reads that inter-entity rent as the serviceability line, and the arrangement keeps operational risk separate from the asset, with a clean, auditable payment for assessment. Ardent arranges the mortgage against whichever entity holds the property, and your accountant confirms the ownership and tax detail for that structure.

An SMSF is another arrangement lenders see. Commercial premises typically qualify as business real property, so an SMSF can hold the pet store building through a limited recourse borrowing arrangement, held in a bare (custodian) trust, and lease it to your trading company at market rent under a formal lease. The arrangement funds a single asset, and the fund needs its own deposit, since cross-collateralisation with other assets sits outside super. Retail is standard commercial security, so SMSF lending sits in the 65 to 80 per cent band rather than a lower specialised band. Ardent arranges the mortgage side of an SMSF purchase for a pet store, and your SMSF specialist or accountant confirms the fund's tax, contribution and ownership position before the bare trust deed is signed.

What credit teams weigh up

Business financials: profit and loss, BAS, stock turns across dry food, wet food, accessories and live animal lines, and the impact of grooming income.
Serviceability: capacity to meet repayments with buffers for seasonality, supplier terms, and centre marketing levies if applicable.
The property: location near anchor tenants, parking, loading access, water and drainage for aquariums and hydrobaths, power, visibility for signage, and whether strata or freehold.
Valuation: comparable sales, passing rent benchmarks for the area, and the property's fit for purpose.
Deposit and equity: cash, term deposits, or usable equity in other property you already own.
Lease and occupancy: for owner-occupiers, rent paid by the trading entity; for investments, lease term, options and tenant quality.

A specialist broker who knows pet stores can position your application with lenders that understand the sector's cash flow patterns and fit-out realities.

A situation we could help with

This is an illustrative scenario that shows the kind of situation we can assist with, and how the thinking might run.

Situation: a single-site owner in a neighbourhood centre, 320 sqm, paying $15,800 per month gross, with the landlord signalling a rent rise. A strata retail unit nearby is offered at $2,150,000 with 10 customer parks and existing wet areas.
Objectives: fix occupancy cost, protect $280,000 of fit-out, allow space for a second hydrobath and a larger freezer bank, and hold cash flow for seasonal stock buys.
Options to weigh:
- Buy in a company or trust with a 25 per cent deposit, principal and interest over 20 years.
- Draw on residential equity to reduce the cash deposit, interest only for two years while the refit is completed.
- An SMSF purchase with market rent from the trading company, weighing contribution caps and liquidity.
How we would approach it: we would map the LVR ranges (owner-occupied commercial retail gears up to around 80 per cent, subject to valuation and serviceability), the holding structures and the repayment paths, then set out a lease-back at a commercial rent and a cash-out buffer for refit and inventory. The figures above are illustrative, not confirmed outcomes, and the decision stays with the owner.

Other finance we arrange for pet store operators

Asset finance for pet store equipment: hydrobaths, grooming tables and dryers, aquariums with pumps and filtration, POS hardware, display shelving and walk-in freezers, arranged as pet store equipment finance on its own facility.
Fit-out and refurbishment finance: plumbing for floor drains, quarantine room, odour and ventilation upgrades, signage and lighting to retail standard.
Working capital loans: working capital for a pet store to cover bulk buys of premium pet food, litter and parasite prevention lines ahead of peak seasons.
Business overdraft: manage cash gaps between supplier payments and sell-through, including e-commerce fulfilment cycles.
Refinancing and debt consolidation: simplify multiple facilities and reduce overall cost to improve monthly cash flow.
Construction and renovation: convert a light industrial unit to a showroom-warehouse hybrid with compliant wet areas and customer access.
Business or premises acquisition finance: buy a second store, acquire a competitor's book, or purchase the freehold from an existing landlord.

Owning the premises can free equity for future growth, while a refinance can consolidate facilities and align repayments with trading cycles.

Why pet store owners work with Ardent

Ardent Capital Group structures commercial mortgages for pet store owners and investors, aligned to how you intend to hold and occupy the property. We work across company, trust and SMSF structures and shape the lending strategy around your cash flow and growth plan.

We are a specialist commercial mortgage broker servicing Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and surrounding metro and regional areas. We have helped facilitate over $500,000,000 in funding over a decade for over 1,000 borrowers. Talk to us about your next move. Our job is to help you make clear decisions that support optimal financial outcomes.

Pet Store Finance FAQs

What deposit do I need to buy a pet store premises? Plan for a deposit from around 20 per cent, aligned to an LVR up to 80 per cent on standard commercial security. Where you already own other property, adding that security can lift the gearing further, subject to the lender's criteria.

Can I use my home to leverage your equity for the purchase? Yes, many owners use residential equity to reduce the cash deposit, noting cross-collateralisation and risk concentration.

Will lenders fund a site with aquariums and heavy water use? Yes, provided the property is fit for purpose. Valuers consider plumbing, drainage, waterproofing, power and any water-damage history. Proper certification and maintenance records help.

Is a strata retail unit acceptable, or should I target freehold? Both can work. Strata suits smaller formats with shared parking near anchors like supermarkets. Freehold offers more control over signage, hours and future alterations. Lender appetite depends on location, size and comparable sales.

Can my SMSF buy the premises and lease it to my trading company? Generally yes where the property qualifies as business real property, with rent at market rate and documented under a formal lease. Consider contribution limits, liquidity and compliance.

Interest only or principal and interest for a pet store? Interest only can support cash flow during a refit or inventory build. Principal and interest steadily reduces debt. The right choice depends on profitability, seasonality and your growth plan.

What documents help a pet store application? Two years of financials, BAS, current lease, fit-out schedule, supplier terms, inventory profile by category, and any compliance approvals for live animals, grooming and wastewater.

Written by

Nick Chong

Managing Director, M.AppFin, Dip. Mortgage Mgmt

Nick holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics, a Master of Applied Finance and an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning. He founded Ardent Capital in 2016 after more than a decade in financial planning and mortgage broking. For the past ten years he has led a team of finance specialists, mortgage advisers, brokers and credit analysts, all working to secure optimal outcomes for clients and always acting in their best interests. The team brings both a qualitative and a quantitative approach to every deal.