Apartment Refinance Timeline: First Call to Funding

Short answer

An apartment refinance runs in a fixed order: size the loan, assemble the rent roll and financials, collect quotes, sign an application, complete the appraisal and reports, underwrite, lock the rate, get the commitment and close. Lenders rarely publish durations; speed depends on your package and the loan type.

The sequence, start to finish

Every apartment refinance follows the same order, whatever the lender. What changes by loan type is how long each step takes and how many people review it. Here is the sequence and what you do at each step.

Size the deal. Read your note for maturity and prepayment terms, restate NOI the lender's way, and size a loan against your payoff. The refinance hub has the worksheet.
Assemble the package. Current rent roll, trailing-12 operating statement (monthly detail helps), year-to-date and prior-year statements, tax bills, insurance, and each principal's financial statement and schedule of real estate owned. Use the refinance checklist.
Collect quotes. Lenders review the package and issue term sheets or quotes. Compare them on cost over your hold with the term sheet comparison.
Sign an application. You pick a lender, sign, and pay the application fee and deposits for third-party reports.
Third-party reports. The lender orders the appraisal, property condition report and environmental report. These involve site visits and usually set the pace of the middle of the process.
Underwriting. The lender verifies income and expenses, reviews the reports, and checks the sponsor and the borrowing entity. Expect follow-up questions on concessions, delinquency, large expense lines and repairs.
Rate lock. Depending on the program, you lock the rate or the spread during or after underwriting.
Commitment. The lender, or for agency loans the agency, approves the loan and issues a commitment with conditions.
Closing. Loan documents, title, survey, insurance and entity documents are finalized. The new lender funds, pays off the old loan, and sets up escrows and reserves.

Work back from your closing or maturity date with the planner below. It builds dated milestones for your target loan type and flags a start date that is tight or late.

Loan maturity planner

Current loan matures onRefinancing intoApplication to closing (days)A planning assumption. Replace it with your lender's estimate.Extension option (months, 0 if none)

Status–

Until maturity–

Start date–

Dates are a planning schedule built from your inputs, not a lender commitment.

How the timeline differs by loan type

Lenders and agencies rarely publish how long their loans take, so this section describes what each process involves and the dates programs do publish.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Agency loans are originated by approved lenders who underwrite to the agency's rules. Fannie Mae's Small Loan program runs on its delegated model and uses streamlined third-party reports: a streamlined inspection and an environmental screening under the ASTM E-1528-14 protocol rather than a full Phase I. Standard Fannie fixed-rate loans require an appraisal, Phase I environmental assessment and property condition assessment.

The published dates are about rate locks. Fannie Mae offers 30- to 180-day rate lock commitments, including a Streamlined Rate Lock option. Freddie Mac Conventional Small offers a spread lock for 60 days after application, and an Index Lock that locks the Treasury portion of the rate for qualifying sponsors and properties. One date is easy to miss: Fannie's fixed-rate term sheet calls for stabilized occupancy, typically 90%, for 90 days before funding, so a building that is just reaching occupancy needs that time in the schedule.

HUD 223(f)

HUD adds a federal review on top of the lender's. Under Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP), the lender prepares a full underwriting package and submits a Firm Commitment application to the HUD Multifamily Region, which reviews it and issues the commitment. Non-MAP lenders go through Traditional Application Processing, with a conditional commitment stage before the firm commitment. HUD recommends a concept meeting before the application for complex deals, properties with less than three years of operating history, significant cash out, or loans over $75 million.

Third-party work is heavier, including a Capital Needs Assessment. Critical repairs must be finished before the loan is endorsed, and non-critical repairs within 12 months after closing. HUD 223(f) is generally the slowest of the paths on this page, so start it first if it is on your list. Program detail is at HUD 223(f) loans.

Bank

One institution underwrites, approves and funds the loan, with no agency or securitization step. Credit committee schedules and your existing relationship drive the pace. Banks are often the fastest permanent option for a straightforward deal.

CMBS

The lender underwrites to what bond investors will buy and closes the loan for a future securitization. Expect detailed legal work on the single purpose entity and loan documents, which are hard to change after closing.

Bridge

Bridge lenders underwrite a business plan and can move quickly, which is why they serve as a backstop when a maturity is close. The trade is a higher rate, fees and a short term.

What makes a refinance faster or slower

A complete package on day one. The most common delay is the borrower's own: a rent roll that does not tie to the trailing-12, missing months of statements, or financial statements that arrive in pieces.
Clean property paper. Rent concessions, high delinquency, recent large expenses and open code issues all generate questions. Answer them before the lender asks; the rent roll analyzer shows what underwriters will flag.
Site access. Appraisers and inspectors need entry to a sample of units. Coordinating tenant notices can take longer than the inspection.
Title and entity issues. Old liens, unrecorded easements, a change in ownership structure or a missing operating agreement can hold up closing at the end.
Repairs. A long repair list from the property condition report becomes an escrow negotiation, and on HUD loans a closing condition.
Payoff logistics. Defeasance needs a separate process and its own advisors. Yield maintenance needs a payoff quote dated to the closing. Order either early.
Response time. Each round of questions waits on you. Answer in a day, not a week.

Fit the timeline to your prepayment window

If your current loan has an open prepayment window before maturity, aim to close inside it. Freddie Mac Conventional Small, for example, has no prepayment premium in its final 90 days. Closing a few weeks before the window opens can cost more than any rate difference; the break-even calculator shows whether it is worth it. For a maturing loan, see the month-by-month plan in the loan maturity playbook.

Janover Capital LLC is not a lender. We compare lenders across these programs and run the process to closing. Send your rent roll, trailing-12 and loan details to desk@janover.co or call (561) 556-9997.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to refinance an apartment building?

Lenders and agencies do not publish fixed durations, and the answer depends on the loan type and how complete your package is. A bank or bridge loan on a clean property is usually the quickest; agency loans add the agency's review; HUD 223(f) adds a federal review and heavier reports and is the slowest. Start about a year ahead of a maturity, and earlier for HUD.

What are the steps in an apartment refinance?

Size the loan against your payoff, assemble the rent roll, trailing-12 and sponsor financials, collect lender quotes, sign an application, complete the appraisal, property condition report and environmental report, go through underwriting, lock the rate, receive the commitment, and close. At closing the new lender funds the loan, pays off the old one, and sets up escrows and reserves.

When do I lock the rate on an apartment refinance?

It depends on the program. Fannie Mae offers 30- to 180-day rate lock commitments, including a Streamlined Rate Lock option. Freddie Mac Conventional Small offers a spread lock for 60 days after application, plus an Index Lock on the Treasury portion for qualifying deals. Banks set their own lock terms. Ask each lender when the lock happens and what it costs before you sign the application.

Why does a HUD 223(f) refinance take longer?

Because HUD reviews the loan in addition to the lender. Under MAP, the lender prepares a full underwriting package and submits a Firm Commitment application to the HUD Multifamily Region for review. The third-party work includes a Capital Needs Assessment, critical repairs must be finished before endorsement, and complex deals or significant cash out may call for a concept meeting with HUD first.

What slows down an apartment refinance most?

Usually the borrower's package: a rent roll that does not match the trailing-12, missing statements, slow answers to underwriting questions. After that come title and entity problems, long repair lists from the property condition report, unit access for inspections, and payoff logistics such as defeasance. Sending a complete, reconciled package on day one and answering questions within a day saves the most time.