Which Apartment Loan Fits Your Building? 6 Questions

Short answer

Answer six questions: unit count, occupancy, loan size, how much personal recourse you will accept, how long you plan to hold, and whether you plan to renovate. The matcher removes programs whose published limits you break, ranks the rest by fit, and gives the reason each program fits or fails your building.

What the matcher answers

The matcher answers which loan programs are realistic for your building right now, and why the others are not. It is for owners of 5+ unit buildings who know their property well but do not track every program's limits. Six answers is all it takes, and each result comes with a plain reason, so you can see what would change the answer.

Which apartment loan fits?

UnitsOccupancy today (%)Loan amount needed ($)Personal recourseHow long will you hold?Renovation plansHow fast must it close?

Best first look–

A rules-based first look. The reasons are shown so you can check them against your deal.

How to use it

Answer from your current numbers, not your pro forma. A lender underwrites the building you have today.

Units

The number of residential units in the building or portfolio you are financing. Count from your rent roll. Unit count matters because some programs are capped: Freddie Mac's Conventional Small loan is written for predominantly market-rate properties of 5 to 50 units.

Occupancy

Physical occupancy today, taken from your rent roll as occupied units divided by total units. Agency small loans are written for existing, stabilized properties, so a building in lease-up or mid-turnover ranks differently from one that has been full for months. If your occupancy has been moving, enter today's figure and rerun it later.

Loan size

The loan you need, not the loan you hope for. For a refinance, start with your payoff plus closing costs, or run the cash-out refinance calculator first to see what the building supports. Size limits are hard lines: Fannie Mae's Small Mortgage Loan program goes up to $9 million, and Freddie Mac's Conventional Small loan is generally $2 million to $10 million.

Recourse appetite

Whether you will sign a personal guarantee for repayment. Agency small loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are non-recourse except for standard carve-outs for bad acts such as fraud and bankruptcy. Many bank loans ask for a full or partial guarantee, though terms vary by bank. See bad-boy carve-outs for what a carve-out covers.

Hold period

How long you expect to keep the loan before you sell or refinance again. This drives the prepayment structure that suits you. Fixed-rate agency and CMBS loans usually carry yield maintenance or defeasance, which gets expensive if you exit early, while floating-rate and bank loans often prepay more cheaply.

Renovation plans

Whether you plan light upgrades between tenants, or heavy work that takes units offline. Heavy renovation usually points toward a bridge loan now and permanent debt later, because permanent lenders size on the income the building produces today.

How programs are ranked

The matcher works in two passes.

Hard limits. Each program's published limits, such as unit count, loan size range and stabilized occupancy, are applied first. A program you break on a hard limit shows as a fail, with the limit named, so you know whether a different loan amount or a few more months of occupancy would change it.
Fit. Programs that pass are ordered by how well they match your answers on recourse, hold period and renovation. A non-recourse agency loan ranks above a recourse bank loan if you said you will not guarantee; a loan with flexible prepayment ranks higher if you plan a short hold.

The ranking does not use rates. Rates move daily and depend on your specific deal, so a ranking built on today's spread would be stale tomorrow. Price comes from quotes. See apartment refinance rates for how a rate is built.

What this tool assumes

Published criteria only. The matcher knows what Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD publish, plus typical ranges for bank, CMBS and bridge lending. It does not know any one lender's internal overlays, and banks in particular set their own rules.
It does not size the loan. A program can fit your building and still not lend the amount you need at its DSCR and LTV limits. Size the loan separately with the cash-out calculator.
It skips special cases. Student housing, seniors housing, co-ops, ground leases and other non-standard features are excluded from many programs. Freddie Mac's Conventional Small term sheet lists several such exclusions. If your property has one, ask before relying on the result.
It does not check you. Sponsor net worth, liquidity, credit and experience are not in the six questions. The eligibility checker adds those.

What to do with your result

If an agency program ranks first, run the eligibility checker against it, then the maturity planner to see when to start. If only bank or bridge options pass, read the reasons on the failed agency programs: an occupancy or loan size fail may clear in a few months, which makes a shorter bank or bridge loan the bridge to a better one. If HUD 223(f) ranks well, weigh its long amortization against its longer process in HUD 223(f) vs Fannie Mae.

When you are ready to see real terms, use "get quotes on these numbers" to send your answers to the quote form, or email desk@janover.co. Janover Capital LLC is not a lender: it compares lenders and arranges the financing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best loan for a small apartment building?

It depends on the building and your plans, which is why the matcher asks six questions. For a stabilized 5+ unit building, agency small loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are often the first look because they are non-recourse except for carve-outs. A bank loan may suit a short hold or an unusual property, and a bridge loan suits heavy renovation or low occupancy. Answer the questions to see the ranking for your building.

Why did a program fail for my building?

Every fail names the limit you broke, such as unit count, loan size or stabilized occupancy. Some fails are permanent for your building, like a 60-unit property against a program written for 50 units or fewer. Others clear with time, such as occupancy that is still climbing after a renovation. Change the answer that caused the fail and rerun the matcher to see whether the program comes back into the ranking.

Does the matcher compare interest rates?

No. Rates change every day and depend on your specific loan, so the matcher ranks programs on fit: published limits, recourse, prepayment flexibility and renovation plans. Once you have a short list, request quotes and compare them side by side with the term sheet comparison tool, which counts fees and prepayment cost over your hold, not only the rate.

Can I get an agency loan on a building I am renovating?

Fannie Mae's small loans are written for existing, stabilized properties, and permanent lenders generally size on income the building produces today. Light unit turns between tenants usually do not change that. Heavy renovation that takes units offline usually means a bridge loan first, then an agency or bank takeout once the building stabilizes. The bridge-to-agency takeout calculator tests whether that second step works.

Does Janover lend the money?

No. Janover Capital LLC is not a lender. It compares lenders across agency, bank, HUD, CMBS and bridge programs and arranges the financing. The matcher is a free tool that runs in your browser. If you want quotes, the matcher can pre-fill the quote form with your answers, or you can email desk@janover.co or call (561) 556-9997.