Refinancing a commercial loan means replacing your existing facility with a new one, with a different lender or a different structure, to improve the rate, access equity, consolidate facilities or restructure the debt. Businesses often stay on the same commercial facility for years, quietly paying back-book pricing while new borrowers are offered sharper terms for the same risk.
Commercial refinancing carries more moving parts than a home loan, valuations, security, serviceability and sometimes break costs, so the question is always whether the benefit outweighs the cost over the time you’ll keep the facility. Done well, it can lower repayments, free up equity for growth, simplify multiple facilities, or move you to a lender that better suits the business.
At Loanworx, we review your existing commercial debt, benchmark it against the market, and tell you plainly whether refinancing is worth it. As an experienced finance broker, we weigh every cost against the benefit, and sometimes the honest answer is to stay or simply reprice with your current lender.
Haven’t reviewed your commercial facilities in a few years? Call us on 1300 562 696 or get in touch and we’ll be back to you shortly.
Commercial refinancing isn’t only about chasing a lower rate. Here are the main reasons businesses do it.
Lenders often price new borrowers more keenly than existing ones, so a facility that was competitive a few years ago may now sit above the market. Refinancing can reduce repayments and free up cash flow, and on commercial balances even a small rate difference adds up.
If your property or business has grown in value, or you’ve paid down the balance, refinancing can release equity to fund growth, an acquisition, a development or working capital, often at commercial property rates well below other forms of borrowing.
Refinancing is a chance to reshape the debt: switch between interest-only and principal-and-interest, reset the term, consolidate multiple facilities into a cleaner structure, or move to a lender whose policy better suits the business now.
The hard part of commercial refinancing is knowing whether it’s actually worth it. A sharper rate looks attractive, but switching has costs, valuations, fees and sometimes break costs, and the real question is whether the saving outweighs them over the time you’ll hold the facility.
We benchmark your current facility against the market, add up every cost of moving, and show you the net benefit. If it stacks up, we handle the refinance end to end. If it doesn’t, we’ll tell you, because a refinance that costs more than it saves isn’t a win, and sometimes a repricing call to your current lender does the job.
Refinancing often opens up other opportunities, from releasing equity to funding growth. Explore our other commercial services below to find the right fit.
SMSF Loans
Borrow inside your self-managed super fund to acquire commercial property under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement.
Vehicle and fleet finance through chattel mortgage, lease or hire purchase, structured for your cash flow and tax position.
Short-term finance to bridge the gap between buying and selling, or to cover a timing shortfall.
Funding to buy a business or practice, including goodwill where the deal and lender support it.
Finance to acquire or refinance commercial investment property across office, retail, industrial and specialised assets.
Funding for residential and commercial development, from small builds through to multi-stage projects.
Overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow facilities sized to your real working capital cycle.
A commercial refinance is a fresh application, assessed much like new debt. These are the factors that determine your terms.
The new lender values your security and works out your loan-to-value ratio. A lower LVR, from value growth or paying down the balance, opens up sharper pricing and more lender options, and may free up equity.
We work out where your LVR sits and what equity it could release.
The new lender re-assesses whether the business can service the facility at current rates and on its current financials, not the ones from when you first borrowed.
If trading has shifted, we match you to a lender whose assessment suits your position.
The benefit depends on the gap between your current rate and what’s available. Existing borrowers often sit on back-book pricing above what new borrowers are offered.
We benchmark your current rate against the market so the gap is clear.
Moving has costs: discharge fees, new facility fees, valuations, and on fixed-rate debt, a break cost that can be significant. These have to be weighed against the saving.
We add up every cost and compare it to the benefit before recommending a move.
The security behind the facility, and how the new structure is set up, feed into the terms. Refinancing is also a chance to clean up cross-secured or fragmented facilities into a simpler structure. We model the trade-offs and only recommend a refinance when it genuinely leaves the business better off.
Commercial finance isn’t only about the headline rate. It’s about being matched to a lender that will approve you, structuring the facility so it suits the business long term, and having someone manage the process. Here’s what working with us looks like.
We compare commercial facilities across a broad panel of major banks, second-tier lenders, non-bank funders and specialist commercial lenders, so you see a genuine spread of options. We match the deal to the lender most likely to approve it at a competitive rate, which often isn’t your everyday bank.
You deal with experienced brokers who expect to see trusts, companies, partnerships, partner distributions and complex security, and who know how to present your structure to a lender accurately rather than force-fitting it into a generic application.
From the first conversation to settlement, we prepare the submission, liaise with the lender, coordinate with your accountant and solicitor, and keep you updated at each stage, so the deal keeps moving and you’re never chasing it.
For most commercial transactions, Loanworx is paid an upfront and trail commission by the lender after settlement, and that commission typically does not change the rate or fees you pay. For more complex scenarios a fee for service may apply, and we’ll disclose it in writing before any work begins. No surprises.
The main reasons are to secure a sharper rate, release equity you’ve built, consolidate multiple facilities, or restructure the debt to suit the business now, for example switching between interest-only and principal-and-interest. Lenders often price new borrowers more keenly than existing ones, so a facility that was competitive a few years ago can drift above the market. Refinancing brings it back in line, provided the benefit outweighs the cost of moving.
It depends on the gap between your current rate and what’s available, and on your balance. On commercial facilities, even a modest rate reduction can translate into a meaningful saving given the size of the debt. The saving only counts net of switching costs, though, which is why we benchmark your facility and calculate the dollar benefit after costs rather than quoting a headline rate. If it isn’t worthwhile, we’ll tell you.
Typical costs include a discharge fee on the current facility, establishment or application fees on the new one, and a valuation, and on fixed-rate debt, a break cost that can be significant. There may also be legal and registration costs. We add up every cost upfront and weigh it against the saving so you see the true net benefit before deciding.
Often, yes. If your property or business has grown in value or you’ve paid down the balance, refinancing can release some of that equity, subject to serviceability and the lender’s loan-to-value limits. Businesses commonly use released equity to fund growth, an acquisition, a development or working capital, usually at commercial property rates below other forms of borrowing. We work out how much you can access and the cleanest way to structure it.
Often, yes. Refinancing can be a chance to consolidate multiple commercial facilities, or untangle cross-secured loans, into a cleaner structure with one lender. That can simplify administration and sometimes improve pricing, though it needs care where the facilities have different terms or security. We model the trade-offs before recommending any consolidation.
It depends on the complexity, but a commercial refinance typically takes several weeks, because it involves valuations, financial assessment and discharging the existing facility. Simpler facilities move faster; complex or cross-secured structures take longer. We give you a realistic timeline upfront and manage the process between the lenders so the switch is smooth.
Talk through your scenario with a specialist commercial broker, with no cost and no obligation. Call us on 1300 562 696 or get in touch and we’ll be back to you shortly, ready to map out what’s possible for your business.
Disclaimer: The information provided here is general in nature and should not be considered financial, tax or legal advice. You should consult your professional advisers, such as your accountant, solicitor and financial planner, to see whether a particular finance strategy is suitable for your business, ahead of a discussion with us that will be limited to how to arrange any funding required.
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