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Case Study
Case Study - SBA Commercial RE

Retail Building Purchase

When the file turned messy, a CPA who already knew the client, and a lender relationship built over 25 years, made the difference between a deal that stalled out and one that got funded.

5 Mo.
Start to Close
85%
LTV, No Lien
$1.4M
Total Financing
40%
CPA Commission
How the Capital Stack Was Built
SBA: 85%
HELOC: 15%
SBA Commercial RE ≈ $1.1M
HELOC ≈ $300K
Client was first approved at 90% LTV, nearly unheard of, but declined the property lien it required. The team restructured to 85% LTV with no lien, and closed the remaining 15% with a HELOC.

The Deal

A Long Island CPA firm introduced a longtime client, the owner of a 40-year-old, single-location pizza restaurant in West Babylon, looking to purchase a second building nearby for an additional location. Strong revenue, a loyal customer base, and a referring CPA with ten years of history on the account. On paper, an easy yes.

The Complications

Nearly everything that could go wrong, did.

The business ran heavy in cash, and the numbers on paper didn't reflect what the business actually earned. The client's P&L was filled out incorrectly. Submitted as-is, it would have gotten the file declined outright. The referring CPA stepped in to help rebuild it properly, reconstructing an accurate financial picture the underwriting could actually stand on.

Ownership was tangled too: the business and building were legally in the owner's wife's name, despite him running it for decades. Midway through underwriting, the client's attorney decided to set up an entirely new business entity for the deal, different from that of the original entity. It triggered a fresh round of questions from the lender right as the file neared completion. It wasn't an isolated mistake; incorrect paperwork and re-dos from the attorney's office were a recurring source of delay throughout the deal.

Meanwhile, the seller of the building was applying real pressure, calling repeatedly for updates, even on days there was nothing new to report. And the client, frustrated by a process he didn't fully understand, called often to ask why it was taking so long, sometimes placing the blame squarely on PG Strategic for delays that were happening on his own side of the file.

How It Got Done

Initial Approval
PG Strategic got the client approved for a 90% LTV loan, a number almost unheard of in commercial lending.
Restructure
Client didn't want a lien on his personal property, anticipating a home sale down the line. The team restructured to an 85% LTV SBA loan with no lien, and brought in a HELOC to cover the remaining 15%.
25 Years of Trust
The SBA lender relationship belonged to PG Strategic's Tony, built over decades, and used exception after exception to get a genuinely messy file across the line. Files like this get approved because a lender trusts the person bringing it, not just the paperwork in it.

"Nobody on earth could have gotten this deal done for you."

The referring CPA, to the client, mid-deal

The Outcome

Five months after the initial consultation, the deal closed: an SBA commercial real estate loan of roughly $1.1M at an 85% LTV with no personal property lien, plus a HELOC to complete the financing. The referring CPA earned a 40% commission. Not every deal is this complicated, but when one is, a referral partner who already knows the business, paired with a lending team with real relationships on the other end, can be the difference between a deal that dies and one that gets funded.

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