$2 million to $5 million business loans secured by property

Between $2m and $5m, a private secured loan is usually doing heavy lifting: refinancing a developer’s construction debt over completed stock, paying out a lender that’s run out of patience, or buying a commercial asset before a bank can move. These loans sit at the top of the range offered here, and they reward preparation. Once the documents are in, funds can move within 24–48 hours even at the $5m ceiling.

What shape does a $2m to $5m loan take?

Element	How it’s usually set up
Structure	Private first mortgage
Security	Often several properties: completed stock, commercial buildings, land
Length	24 months at most
Interest handling	Paid upfront or rolled into the balance
Exit	Staged sales, a bank or non-bank refinance, or a single large sale
Releases	Agreed repayment per property as each one sells

See the private first mortgage business loans pillar for how first mortgages work, and multiple properties as security for cross-securing.

Where does private lending fit at this size?

Larger private loans sit inside a market that’s grown quickly. ASIC described Australian private credit as about $200 billion and growing rapidly when it published its review in September 2025, and the Reserve Bank has noted that non-banks have moved into property lending that banks pulled back from, while still providing less than a fifth of direct commercial real estate lending. For a borrower, that means more choice, and a greater need to check who you’re dealing with. The private credit in Australia in 2026 guide has the wider picture.

What’s distinctive here, at any size up to $5m:

• No formal valuation required, on any of the properties.
• Interest prepaid or capitalised, so a project or portfolio isn’t drained by monthly repayments.
• One direct lender that assesses and funds the loan itself; your file isn’t syndicated around a panel.
• No credit check to enquire.

Who borrows $2m to $5m against property?

Borrower	Typical need	Read more
Developer with completed, unsold stock	Repay the construction lender and sell in an orderly way	Residual stock loans
Developer holding land	Carry a site through approvals	Land bank loans
Owner with a loan in default	Refinance before enforcement goes further	Refinance a loan in default
Owner facing a mortgagee sale	Repay before a sale contract is signed	Stop a mortgagee sale
Business buying premises fast	Settle before the bank is ready	Buy commercial property fast

For how developer funding against completed property differs from construction finance, see developer finance secured on property.

How do staged exits and partial releases work?

When a loan is secured over several properties, each one can usually be released as it sells, in return for an agreed repayment. Those amounts are set in the documents before settlement, so the borrower knows what each sale must pay down and the lender knows its remaining security stays adequate.

Where more than one lender is involved, the order in which each is repaid may be set by a deed of priority.

What should you plan for at settlement and exit?

• Clearance certificates. The ATO’s foreign resident withholding rules now reach every sale of Australian real property, with no value threshold since 1 January 2025. A resident seller who can’t hand the buyer a clearance certificate at settlement has part of the price withheld and sent to the ATO, to be claimed back later. On a multi-million-dollar sale that gap can derail a payout, so apply well before exchange.
• Land tax. In NSW, liability is set on land held at midnight on 31 December and isn’t pro-rated; unpaid land tax transfers with the property. Developers holding several titles should budget for it in the loan.
• Signatures across entities. Every owner of every title signs, and every trustee needs the power to give security.

Illustrative example (net funds): a Sydney developer holds eight completed townhouses worth about $1.1m each ($8.8m in total) and owes $3.6m to a construction lender whose facility expires in three weeks. Illustrative: a private first mortgage at 50% of the combined value would allow up to $4.4m.

• Advance: $4.2m first mortgage over all eight titles, 12-month term, interest added to the balance
• Construction lender repaid at settlement: $3.6m
• Fee, legal and registration costs deducted: say $45k
• Net funds after payout: about $555k for marketing, strata set-up, land tax and holding costs
• Exit: townhouse sales, each releasing its title on an agreed repayment, with a refinance of any unsold stock as the fallback Local detail is on the Sydney private lender page.

How does a $2m–$5m private loan compare?

	Private first mortgage	Extend with existing lender	Bank or non-bank refinance	Discount sale of stock	Joint venture partner
Speed	24–48 hours possible	Lender’s choice	Weeks to months	Fast, at a price	Months
Control of timing	Yours, within the term	Theirs	Theirs	The market’s	Shared
Cost character	Higher than a bank, short term	Often default or extension fees	Lowest if approved	Lost margin	Shared profit
Best for	A defined bridge to sales or refinance	When the lender is supportive	Long-term holding	Urgent, with no equity	Large, long projects

How does it work?

1. Enquire with the properties, debts, amount, purpose and exit. No credit check at this stage.
2. Deal review with a specialist: securities, release terms, interest option and term.
3. Letter of Offer in writing, including the assessment fee.
4. Solicitors on both sides settle the documents; every owner, director and guarantor across every entity completes ID.
5. One settlement repays the outgoing lenders and registers the new first mortgage over each title.
6. Titles come off one by one as sales settle, until the last repayment discharges the loan.

What makes a large private loan move quickly?

At $2m to $5m the lender’s decision can be quick; the paperwork is what takes time. The files that settle fastest share a few traits:

• A single property schedule listing each title, its owner, what’s owing, any lease or sale contract, and its role in the exit.
• Payout letters requested on day one, because outgoing lenders, especially those already in a dispute, can be slow to provide them.
• Entity documents in one place: constitutions, ASIC extracts, trust deeds and every variation.
• Decision-makers available. If six directors across three entities must sign, their diaries set the settlement date.
• A realistic release schedule proposed upfront, showing what each sale repays.
• Agents’ evidence for the exit, such as recent comparable sales or a campaign plan, rather than a hoped-for price.

Do those things and the 24–48 hour window is achievable. Skip them and even a straightforward deal can take a fortnight.

Who suits it, and when isn’t it the right move?

Suits: developers, investors and business owners with substantial equity across completed property, a defined need and a documented exit.

Not the right move when:

• The need is above $5m. Loans here top out at $5m.
• The funding is for construction progress draws. Funding is against existing property only.
• A long-term lender can meet the deadline at lower cost.
• The exit relies on a market that won’t absorb the stock at the prices assumed.

Documents you’ll need

• Identification for each individual who signs, plus constitutions, extracts and trust deeds for each entity.
• A schedule of every property: title details, debt, any leases or sale contracts.
• Payout letters from existing lenders, including any default notices.
• Exit evidence: sales contracts, agent’s campaign plan, refinance terms.

What it costs (without the guesswork)

At this size, every month of interest matters, so the term and release schedule shape the total more than anything else. Pricing reflects the whole package: the mix and quality of the security, the combined LVR, the term and how believable the sales or refinance plan is, and the target is the sharpest number that package supports. On top of interest sit a small assessment fee printed in the Letter of Offer, legal and registration costs, and partial discharge costs each time a title is released. Before borrowing millions from any lender, read the how to check a private lender guide.

Multi-million deadline approaching? Send your enquiry with the property schedule.

A $2m–$5m need? See if you qualify

Send a schedule of the properties with the debt against each, plus the amount, purpose and exit. There’s no credit check to enquire, the file goes to one lender that decides and funds it, and a specialist reads it and gives you a straight answer on structure, releases and net funds.

The more complete the property schedule, the faster and firmer the answer. See if you qualify, or review the lending criteria first.