Private commercial mortgages.
First and second mortgages and bridge loans — for the commercial files that need speed, story-tolerance, or both. BC and Alberta, exit built in.
Commercial real estate creates its value in exactly the windows institutional lending can't serve: the vacant building priced for its problems, the maturity the bank won't renew, the closing that rewards whoever can actually close. Private commercial capital exists for those windows — priced for risk and speed, structured short and open, and pointed from day one at the only respectable destination: a refinance into cheaper money once the plan has become a rent roll.
The windows banks can't serve.
The deal that funds in weeks or dies — private commercial capital moves at transaction speed.
Vacancy, renovation, or tenant turnover carried until the income is real, then refinanced.
Equity behind an existing commercial first — capital without disturbing good senior debt.
Dirt and entitlement carry — covered in depth on our land acquisition page.
Maturities the lender won't renew, arrears, receivership purchases — stabilized under new capital.
Credit events, tax years in flight, or structures banks can't read — the asset carries the file.
Escaping a private commercial mortgage you're already in? That's our private-to-institutional refinance page.
First, second — and the exit.
The workhorse: senior capital priced for speed and story-tolerance. The interest reserve keeps a cash-tight asset from feeding payments mid-plan.
The surgical option for commercial owners: the 4% first survives untouched, the second funds the renovation, the tax bill, or the next deposit.
Private commercial money is a phase. The refinance out — conventional or CMHC — is designed before funding, priced into the plan, and executed the quarter the trailing numbers support it.
Rates, fees, and leverage are typical ranges for illustration — last reviewed July 2026 — and private commercial pricing moves with the asset, the story, and the market; everything is confirmed in writing before you commit. Estimate costs with the commercial fee calculator.
Case Studies — files like this
Why these files belong here: approval secured for a $7.5 million private mortgage against an estate's property to address its CRA liabilities, a called bank loan replaced by a one-year private commercial mortgage that kept the building, and a business owner moved from private lenders charging over 10% to half the rate.
- Case study · Commercial / PrivateApproval Secured for $7.5M in Estate-Related CRA FinancingLender approval secured for a $7.5 million multi-layered private mortgage against an estate's roughly $30 million of commercial and residential property, for about $7 million of estate-related CRA liabilities, at a proposed 6.75% with a 1% lender fee.Read the file →
- Case study · Commercial / PrivateThe Bank Called a $1 Million Loan on Their Commercial Building After Its Annual Review: Refinanced at 65%, Partner Bought Out, Property KeptThe bank called a roughly $1 million loan after its annual review. A one-year, interest-only private commercial mortgage of $1.7 million, about 65% of the roughly $2.6 million appraisal, paid out the bank, bought out the partner for about $420,000 and cleared the cards and the CRA balance.Read the file →
- Case study · Commercial / Alternative-to-ABanks Declined. Private Lenders Charged 10%+. We Cut His Rate in Half.Cut the borrower's interest rate in half, moved from double-digit private mortgage costs to an alternative commercial mortgage, paid down principal, improved his credit and cash flow, and positioned him for a prime-lender refinance within two years — one broker, one custom plan, from private exit to prime placement.Read the file →
Common private-capital questions.
When does private commercial money make sense?+
Four moments, mostly: a closing that can't wait for committee season, an asset whose income isn't real yet (vacancy, renovation, lease-up), a sponsor or structure banks can't read, or a maturity the incumbent lender won't renew. Pricing runs 8.5%–13% with a 1.5%–3% fee — expensive against a bank, cheap against a lost building.
What does 'underwritten to the exit' actually mean?+
The lender cares less about today's rent roll than about how the loan ends: the refinance at stabilization, the sale, the take-out. A stabilized coverage ratio of 1.0x or lower can still close if the exit is credible — which is why the plan you bring matters more than the vacancy you have.
How fast can private commercial capital close?+
Plan on 10–25 days with an appraisal in hand — valuation and legal work set the pace, not credit committees. On genuine emergencies, the first advance aims at whatever keeps the asset alive: the arrears, the trades, the payout deadline.
Can I get a second mortgage on my commercial property?+
Yes — private commercial seconds fund equity take-outs behind an existing first, combined to roughly 70–75% of value. It's the standard play when your senior debt is too cheap or too penalized to break but the building's equity has a job to do.
How do I get from private pricing back to bank pricing?+
Stabilize and season: 12–24 months of trailing performance — rent roll, leases, clean operating numbers — plus a current appraisal and Phase I, then the file places conventionally or CMHC-insured where the asset qualifies. It's the most common file we run, and the exit is designed on day one, not discovered at maturity.
Is private commercial lending regulated and safe to use?+
The brokering of it is fully regulated — licensed brokerages, written disclosure of every rate and fee before you commit, and independent legal advice as standard. The discipline that keeps it safe is structural: short terms, open periods, honest leverage, and a written exit. Files without those aren't files we place.
Need commercial capital moving? Have these ready.
Bring the honest version — vacancy, arrears, and all. Private lenders price stories; they decline surprises.
- The property — address, type, and what's happening with it
- Current debt — who holds it, the balance, and the maturity or pressure point
- Rent roll and leases as they stand (vacancy is fine — it's the story, not a secret)
- The plan — lease-up, renovation, sale, or refinance, with rough dates
- Recent appraisal and Phase I if they exist — we can order both fast
- Sponsor net-worth statement and corporate structure
- The exit — what has to be true, and when, for cheaper money to take over
The window won't wait. Neither do we.
The property, the pressure, and the plan — send those three and we'll price the private phase and its exit the same day.