AAA Mortgages has advised business owners and investors on complex lending since 1988. Commercial property lending sits at the core of that work: offices, retail, industrial, strata and mixed-use, whether you are buying the premises you operate from or building a portfolio. Commercial deals are assessed differently, structured differently and priced differently to residential, and most of our clients arrive through an accountant who already knows we will treat the referral properly. Our job is to confirm that judgement from the first conversation.
When business owners and investors come to us
Commercial lending rewards preparation and punishes guesswork. The clients who get the most from us are the ones whose situation has outgrown a standard approval, usually because the ownership structure, the income or the asset itself needs proper structuring.
01.
OWNER-OCCUPIED
You are buying the premises your business operates from, and the ownership structure matters as much as the loan
02.
GROWING PORTFOLIO
You hold, or are building, a portfolio of commercial assets across companies or trusts
03.
INDUSTRY MISMATCH
Your bank has declined or slowed down because it does not understand your industry or your structure
04.
STRUCTURE REVIEW
You are refinancing commercial debt and suspect the current structure is costing you
Structure first, lender second
01.
The ownership structure leads
We start with how the property should be owned, not which loan to apply for. Company, trust, personal names or a combination, each changes how lenders assess the deal and how the asset sits in your broader affairs. We work alongside your accountant so the lending supports the structure they have advised.
02.
The right lender for the asset
AAA is accredited across banks, non-bank lenders and private credit, with access to over 40 lenders. An industrial shed with a strong lease, a strata office and an owner-occupied retail site each suit different funders, and we advise on that fit before you commit to a price.
03.
The deal, presented properly
Commercial credit teams assess lease terms, tenant strength and business financials, not just a payslip. We build the application the way a credit team needs to read it, which is often the difference between a decline on policy and an approval on the deal's actual merits.
04.
Beyond settlement
The loan gets reviewed as your business and portfolio grow, not filed and forgotten. Our commercial clients tend to come back for the second, third and fourth property, because the structure set up on the first one was built for the ones after it.
What commercial property lending actually involves
Commercial property lending is finance secured against property used for business or investment purposes, offices, retail, industrial, strata and mixed-use, assessed on the income the asset and its owner generate rather than on personal salary alone.
How assessment differs:
Lenders look at the lease in place, the strength of the tenant and the financials of the borrowing entity. Loan terms are generally shorter than residential and gearing more conservative, which is why the same borrower can look strong to one lender and marginal to another.
Owner-occupier or investor:
A business buying its own premises is assessed on its trading performance. An investor is assessed on the lease income the asset produces. The two paths suit different lenders and different structures, and plenty of borrowers are both at once across their portfolio.
Your contribution:
Commercial lending generally requires a larger contribution than residential. How much depends on the asset type, the lease and the lender's appetite, which is why knowing the lender fit before you negotiate the purchase protects both your deposit and your bargaining position.
Where advice earns its keep:
The loan product is the last decision, not the first. Ownership structure, lender selection and how the deal is presented all get decided before an application exists, and they determine more of the outcome than the rate on the term sheet does.
Common questions
Recent work
Recent scenarios, anonymised but real: what the client came with, what made it complex, and how it was structured. This is what advisory-led lending looks like in practice.
SMSF · QLD
SMSF · QLD
Business owners purchasing their commercial premises through an SMSF. Lease expired, vendor deadline imminent. Previous lender unable to move in time.
Approved and settled on deadline
SMSF · QLD
SMSF · QLD
Business owners purchasing their commercial premises through an SMSF. Lease expired, vendor deadline imminent. Previous lender unable to move in time.
Approved and settled on deadline
SMSF · QLD
SMSF · QLD
Business owners purchasing their commercial premises through an SMSF. Lease expired, vendor deadline imminent. Previous lender unable to move in time.
Approved and settled on deadline