Low down payment commercial loans are still available with the SBA 504 loan which allows down payments as small as 10%.
The credit crisis, the problems with the commercial mortgage backed securities market and the demands being placed on most banks by the FDIC have forced most bankers to require 20 to 35% down for most commercial loans and…some banks cannot lend at all.
The SBA 504 Loan, however, requires anywhere from 10 to 20% down (10% will get the job done for most businesses) and the loans are available.
10% down commercial financing is something most businesses can use at the moment, but the 504 actually does you one better by allowing you to finance most of the closing and soft costs you would typically incur. For this reason it is referred to as a 90% “Loan to Cost” transaction which can save you many thousands of dollars in out of pocket expense. (Granted you are financing the costs into the loan, but you are preserving precious capital and the loans are amortized over 20 to 25 years so the increase in payment is negligible).
If you have a healthy small or mid size business and you are interested in a low down payment commercial loan than you need to consider the 504.