Real estate agent and broker offices took 792 SBA 7(a) loans between October 2023 and June 2026, about $147 million from 129 lenders. The median loan was $75,500, about half the national $150,300, and the median rate 11%, above the national 10.25%. Nearly half, 48.5%, were SBA Express loans. Lenders underwrite a brokerage on the commission it keeps after agent splits, not its gross commissions, on transaction volume through the cycle and on how much depends on the owner's own sales. Owners also used SBA 504 for their offices: 81 projects.
| Measure | Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers | All industries |
|---|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) loans approved | 792 | 162,355 |
| Median loan | $75,500 | $150,300 |
| Middle half of loans | $42,875 – $200,000 | $50,000 – $500,000 |
| Loans of $1 million or more | 3% | 12.9% |
| Median rate at approval | 11% | 10.25% |
| Middle half of rates | 9.99% – 12.5% | 9.3% – 11.25% |
| Acquisitions (change of ownership) | 23 (2.9%) | 16,849 (10.4%) |
| Median acquisition loan | $491,500 | $693,000 |
| Lenders that made these loans | 129 | 1,648 |
| SBA 504 loans (real estate, equipment) | 81 | 16,714 |
Approvals FY2024 – FY2026 to date (1 Oct 2023 – 30 Jun 2026), cancelled loans excluded. Source: SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan records, as of June 30, 2026.
- SBA 7(a) loans approved
- 792 (Oct 2023 – Jun 2026)
- Median loan
- $75,500 (national $150,300)
- Median rate at approval
- 11% (national 10.25%)
- SBA Express share
- 48.5% of loans
- SBA 504 office projects
- 81, median $502,000
- Brokerage purchases
- 23 loans (2.9%), median $491,500
A small-loan industry
Offices of real estate agents and brokers (NAICS 531210) took 792 SBA 7(a) loans from FY2024 through June 2026, worth $147,388,400, from 129 lenders. The loans were small by any SBA measure. The median of $75,500 is about half the national median, the middle half ran from $42,875 to $200,000, and the top tenth started at just $399,650. Only 24 loans (3%) reached $1 million. The median loan supported two jobs: a broker and perhaps one employee, with the agents themselves working as independent contractors.
The borrowers were established. Start-ups were 2.5% of loans and franchises 4.3%. A brokerage borrowing through SBA is usually an operating office financing working capital, technology, marketing or an office move, and nearly half the time doing it through SBA Express.
| Figure | Real estate brokerages | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Median loan | $75,500 | About half the national $150,300 |
| Middle half of loans | $42,875 to $200,000 | A quarter of loans were under $50,000 |
| Loans of $1 million or more | 24 (3%) | Rare: the largest offices and some purchases |
| Median rate at approval | 11% (middle half 9.99% to 12.5%) | Above the national 10.25%, largely because the loans are small |
| Fixed-rate share | 12% | Most loans float with the base rate |
| SBA Express | 48.5% of loans | The lender's own credit process, up to $500,000, with a 50% guaranty |
| Acquisitions | 23 loans (2.9%), median $491,500 at 9.25% | Well below the national 10.4% |
| Start-ups | 2.5% of loans | New brokerages rarely start on SBA money |
| SBA 504 | 81 projects, median $502,000 | A high count for the industry: brokers buying their own offices |
Why brokerages pay more
The median rate of 11%, and a middle half reaching 12.5%, is the price of small loans more than of real estate. SBA's variable-rate caps widen as loans shrink: base rate plus 6.5% for loans of $50,000 or less, plus 6% from $50,001 to $250,000. With a quarter of brokerage loans under $50,000 and most of the rest below $250,000, lenders have room to charge more, and on a small loan the cost of making it is a larger share of what they earn. The 23 acquisition loans, at a median of $491,500, mostly fall under the tighter cap of base rate plus 3%, and priced at a median of 9.25%.
SBA Express adds to it. It runs on the lender's own credit process, but the guaranty is 50% rather than 75% or 85%, so the lender carries more of the risk and prices accordingly. A brokerage borrowing an amount near the line between Express and standard 7(a) should price both. See SBA 7(a) vs SBA Express and SBA loan rates.
The lender reads company dollar, not gross commission
A brokerage's P&L can show impressive revenue that the brokerage never keeps. Gross commission income is the total commission the office earns on closed transactions; most of it is paid out to agents under their split plans and caps. What remains, often called company dollar, is what pays rent, staff, technology, franchise fees and the loan. Lenders underwrite company dollar.
| Line | Example brokerage | What the lender does with it |
|---|---|---|
| Gross commission income | 1,000 | Checks it against closed-transaction reports; does not size the loan on it |
| Paid to agents (splits, after caps) | 780 | Tests whether the split plan has changed, or is about to, to keep agents |
| Company dollar | 220 | The revenue the lender actually underwrites |
| Office, staff, technology, franchise fees | 150 | Looks for costs that rise when volume falls |
| Cash flow available for debt service | 70 | Compared with annual payments; SBA's minimum coverage is 1.15x |
The same arithmetic explains why brokerages borrow small. A brokerage closing a large volume of transactions may keep a thin slice of it, and a lender sizes the loan to that slice. Where the owner is also the office's top producer, the lender splits the owner's personal commissions from the office's, because that part of the income leaves if the owner stops selling.
What lenders worry about in a brokerage
- The cycle. Transaction volume follows home prices, listings and mortgage rates. Lenders look at several years of closed volume and company dollar, and at how the office did in a slow year, not just the last good one.
- Agent retention. Agents are independent contractors who can move to a competing office and take their client relationships with them. A roster with long-tenured agents and steady production reads better than one built on recent recruits.
- Concentration in a few producers. If a handful of agents, or the owner, produce most of the company dollar, the lender treats the office as dependent on them.
- Trust and escrow money. Earnest money held in a trust account belongs to clients. Lenders do not count it as the brokerage's cash, and statements that mix the two raise questions.
- Licensing and errors-and-omissions cover. The office needs a licensed broker of record, and lenders commonly ask to see errors and omissions insurance in place.
- Side businesses. Property management, title or mortgage affiliates often sit next to a brokerage. Property management fees recur and a lender will value them; see SBA loans for residential property managers.
The broker's own real estate
Real estate brokers often own real estate, and that shapes an SBA file in two ways. First, SBA 7(a) lends to the brokerage as an operating business; it does not finance property the broker holds as an investment. Second, SBA's global coverage test of 1.0x includes the owners. Every mortgage on the broker's investment properties shows up on the personal financial statement and in the global cash flow, and rental properties that barely cover their own debt can pull the global figure down. See global cash flow.
The office itself is a different matter. SBA 504 financed 81 brokerage projects in the period, at a median of $502,000, a high count against the industry's 792 7(a) loans. 504 finances owner-occupied real estate, typically 50% from a bank, 40% from the CDC and 10% from the borrower. The brokerage must occupy at least 51% of an existing building, or 60% of new construction, and may lease the rest to tenants. A broker who buys a small building, uses most of it and rents the remainder fits the program well. See SBA 504 vs a conventional commercial mortgage.
SBA finances the brokerage and the office it occupies, not the broker's investment properties, but those properties still count in the global coverage test.
Buying a brokerage
Only 23 loans, 2.9% of the total, financed a change of ownership, at a median of $491,500 and 9.25%. Buying a brokerage means buying agents who can leave and a brand that may or may not be the seller's to transfer. Lenders focus on the agent roster and each agent's production, the split and cap agreements, any franchise transfer approval, and how much company dollar the seller personally generated.
SBA's change-of-ownership rules make some familiar brokerage deal structures unavailable. SBA prohibits an earnout, so a price that depends on agents staying has to be handled another way, for example a seller note, which can count for up to half of the 10% equity injection, but only on full standby for the life of the loan. The seller may consult for up to 12 months, up to 24 months for loans under SOP 50 10 8.1 from 1 October 2026, but may not stay as an owner, officer or employee, which matters when the seller is also a producing agent. Where the amount financed, less appraised real estate and equipment, exceeds $250,000, SBA requires an independent business valuation. See SBA 7(a) acquisition loans and financing a property management company acquisition.
Preparing a brokerage's file
SBA's standard documents: business tax returns for 2–3 years, a P&L and balance sheet with a year-to-date P&L through last month-end, a debt schedule, and personal tax returns and a personal financial statement for each owner of 20% or more, listing every property the owner holds and its mortgage.
From the brokerage's transaction-management system, add closed volume, gross commission income and company dollar by month for at least two years, an agent roster with tenure and production, the split plans, pending transactions, and trust account statements kept apart from operating accounts. That set lets a lender see the office's income as it is, rather than mark down a gross figure it cannot verify.
Transparent builds the file into a full lender package — financing model, lender presentation, blind teaser and underwriting memo — in a day once the documents are in, and sends it to the lenders in its book that fit, including those among the 278 that write SBA 7(a) and 504. On SBA loans the lender pays Transparent, not the borrower. See the package.
Common questions
- Can a real estate brokerage get an SBA loan?
- Yes. Brokerages are operating businesses, and 792 SBA 7(a) loans went to them between October 2023 and June 2026, mostly small loans for working capital, technology, marketing and offices. SBA does not finance property held as an investment.
- What rate do brokerages pay on SBA loans?
- The median rate at approval was 11%, with the middle half between 9.99% and 12.5%, against a national median of 10.25%. Small loans carry higher SBA rate caps, and nearly half of brokerage loans were SBA Express, which has a lower guaranty.
- Do lenders count gross commission income?
- They verify it but underwrite company dollar: what the brokerage keeps after agent splits and caps. That is the income that pays the office's costs and the loan.
- Can I use SBA 504 to buy my brokerage's office?
- Yes, if the brokerage occupies at least 51% of an existing building or 60% of new construction. 81 brokerage projects used 504 in the period, at a median of $502,000.
- Do my rental properties affect my SBA loan?
- Yes. SBA requires global coverage of at least 1.0x including the owners, so the mortgages and rents on your investment properties are part of the calculation even though the loan does not finance them.