ACL 390611 | MFAA Member | Established 2005
Commercial Property RefinanceCosted Before It’s Started.
A commercial facility left alone for three years is usually the strongest refinance candidate on the books. It is also the one where the exit costs are least understood. We model what leaving actually costs before anyone applies anywhere.
15 minutes with a commercial specialist. Bring your current rate and expiry date, nothing else. If staying put is the better answer we’ll say so, and we charge you nothing either way. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement and we disclose it in writing before any work begins.
Intellect Finance – Commercial Refinance Brokers
Independent since 2005 | ACL 390611What Is a Commercial Property Refinance?
A commercial property refinance replaces an existing facility secured by commercial property with a new one, either with your current lender or a different one. It is used to reprice, release equity, extend an expiring term, consolidate business debt, or move away from a lender whose appetite has changed.
The important difference from the original purchase is that nothing carries over. A new lender does not inherit your repayment history, your old valuation or the assessment that got the loan approved in the first place. The property is revalued, the lease is re-read and the business is re-assessed against today’s credit policy rather than the policy that applied when you bought.
That cuts both ways. A property that has grown in value, or a business that has strengthened, can support a materially better facility than the one it is sitting in. A property whose lease has run down, or a business that has had two soft years, can find the numbers work against it. Which of those you are is worth establishing before an application is lodged anywhere.
Common Situations
Why People Come to Us for a Commercial Property Refinance
Six reasons account for almost every commercial refinance we run. Most people arrive with one of them and discover a second.
A fixed period is ending
The roll-off rate is rarely the sharpest rate available. This is the moment you have the most leverage and the least time, which is why it is worth starting months out rather than weeks.
Nobody has looked at it in years
Commercial facilities are reviewable rather than set and forget. A loan untouched for three years has usually drifted away from what the same deal would be priced at today.
You want equity out for the next purchase
Releasing equity to fund a deposit or a fit-out is routine, subject to the new valuation. What you use the money for changes the tax position, so that gets settled with your accountant first.
The facility is expiring
Commercial terms end. If the lender offers a rollover you did not negotiate, that is a decision being made for you. Refinancing is the alternative to accepting it.
Several facilities and several repayments
Property, equipment and working capital sitting with different lenders on different terms. Sometimes one structure is better. See business debt consolidation.
Your lender has cooled on your industry
Appetite settings change without announcement. A lender that was comfortable with your sector three years ago may now be quietly reducing exposure to it, and you find out at review.
Social Proof
120+ Five-Star Google Reviews
Business owners, investors and developers alongside home buyers. Pulled live from Google.
Joseph Sukkar
Principal Broker · ACL 390611
Who You’re Dealing With
Built on 25 Years in Australian Finance
Joseph Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded Intellect Finance in Penrith in 2005. Since then the team has arranged more than 6,500 loans for clients across Australia, from first homes to complex commercial and asset finance.
Commercial refinances sit with Charbel, our Commercial & Complex Lending Specialist, and it is the kind of file where the useful work happens before anything is lodged. A refinance is decided by the new valuation, the aged lease and the cost of leaving, not by ten years of clean repayments with your current lender. So the exit and entry costs get added up and set against the likely saving first. If the total does not clear we say so, and we tell you to ring your own lender instead.
Part of Our 100+ Lender Panel
The names most people recognise are residential lenders. Much of what we arrange runs through funders that do not advertise to the public. Accreditation with a lender is not an endorsement by it, and which lender suits you is decided by your file rather than by who is on this list.
Know Your Rate but Not Your Exit Costs?
That’s the whole conversation. Fifteen minutes, no paperwork.What Actually Decides It
A Refinance Is Decided by the New Valuation Rather Than Your Repayment History
Ten years of perfect repayments with your current lender counts for nothing with a new one. The incoming lender starts from scratch: its own valuation, its own read of the lease, its own assessment of the business. Six things decide whether the move is worth making.
The valuation resets everything
The new lender lends against its own figure, not the price you paid and not what your current lender has on file. That number sets the loan to value ratio and therefore the whole deal. It is also the one variable nobody can promise you in advance.
The lease has aged since you bought
Every year that passes shortens the remaining term. A lease with a long tail when you purchased may now be inside its final option period, which changes both the valuation and the appetite of any lender assessing it.
Break costs on any fixed portion
Not a flat fee. It is the lender’s economic cost of unwinding a fixed rate early, driven by how much of the term is left, the balance, and how wholesale rates have moved since. It can be negligible or it can wipe out the saving entirely.
Four separate exit and entry costs
A discharge fee from the outgoing lender, mortgage deregistration and registration, a valuation fee, and an establishment fee on the new facility. Individually small, collectively the reason a refinance that looked obvious sometimes is not.
The business re-qualifies from scratch
The trading figures that supported the original approval are not the figures being assessed now. Two soft years, a lost major customer or a change in directors all get looked at as though this were a new application, because it is one.
Released equity changes the tax position
The ATO’s position is that only interest incurred for an income-producing purpose is deductible, and that a loan used for both private and income-producing purposes must be apportioned between them. What you do with released funds therefore matters as much as getting them released.
Checked August 2026. Loan to value ratios, terms and review periods on this page are indicative only and are set by individual lenders. Interest deductibility is sourced from the ATO guidance on interest and investment income deductions. Best Interests Duty scope is sourced from ASIC Regulatory Guide 273. Everything else on this page is described in the important information at the foot of the page.
We don’t publish rates, and we’d be cautious of anyone in commercial who does. What we can do is model the exit cost against the likely saving and tell you whether the move clears it. Ask us to run the numbers.
The Honest Comparison
Should You Refinance or Just Ask for a Better Rate?
Most commercial refinance pages will not put this question to you, because one of the two answers does not involve them. Here it is anyway.
Asking your current lender
- Costs nothing to ask, and nothing to decline
- No new valuation, so no risk of a figure you did not want to see
- No discharge, registration, legal or establishment costs
- They only have to match themselves, not the market
- Cannot release equity, extend an expiring term or fix a structure that no longer fits
Moving the facility
- 100+ lenders assessed, including second-tier, non-bank and private funders
- Releases equity, extends an expiring term and restructures in one move
- Gets you out of a lender that has cooled on your industry
- Exit and entry costs modelled against the saving before anything is lodged
- No fee to you at any stage, on any loan type, including no clawback fee
Ask first. It costs you nothing. Ring your existing lender and ask them to review the rate before you do anything else. If they come back close to market, take it and stop there. That costs you the least of any option on the table and it does not involve us. Refinancing earns its costs when the gap is structural rather than a few points, when you need equity released, when the term is expiring, or when the lender has stopped wanting your industry. If you tell us your current rate and expiry we will tell you which of those you are in, and we will tell you to stay put when staying put is right.
Tell Us Your Current Rate and Expiry
We will tell you whether the gap is structural, the term is expiring, or whether your existing lender is the whole answer. No obligation.The Difference
Why a Refinance Needs More Than a Rate Comparison
The advertised number is the easy part. What decides a commercial refinance is the valuation, the lease and the cost of leaving, and none of those appear on a comparison table.
Exit Costs Modelled Before Anything Is Lodged
Discharge, registration, valuation, legals, establishment and any break cost, added up and set against the likely saving. If the total does not clear, we tell you before you have spent anything finding out.
100+ Lenders Including the Ones You Can’t Approach Directly
Banks, second-tier lenders, non-banks and private funders, each with different appetite for property type, lease strength and industry. The lender that suited you at purchase is often not the one that suits you now.
Always in Writing
Business purpose lending sits outside the consumer credit rules, so Best Interests Duty does not apply to a commercial refinance. ASIC Regulatory Guide 273 limits that duty to credit regulated under the National Credit Act. We disclose in writing how we are paid before you proceed regardless.
Started Early Enough to Have a Choice
A refinance run in the last month before expiry is not a negotiation, it is an acceptance. We start far enough out that the valuation, the lease review and the discharge timetable all fit without forcing your hand.
The Process
What Happens and What We’ll Need
The order matters here. Nothing gets lodged until the exit cost is known, because that is what decides whether to move at all.
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15 minutes
Current position
Your existing rate, the balance, when the term or fixed period ends, and what you are trying to achieve. No documents. You will finish the call knowing whether this is worth pursuing and whether to ring your own lender first.
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We model
Exit cost against likely saving
We ask your lender for a break cost figure where anything is fixed, and add the discharge, registration, valuation, legal and establishment costs. That total is set against what the market would realistically price your facility at. If it does not clear, we say so and you have lost nothing.
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You gather
Financials and property documents
Only once the numbers justify moving. We confirm exactly which of these the chosen lender will want.
- Two years of business financials
- Two years of tax returns
- Recent management accounts
- ATO portal statements
- Existing loan statements and contract
- Current lease and rent roll
- Outgoings schedule where applicable
- ID for each director, trustee or guarantor
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We manage
From valuation through to discharge
We manage the new valuation, the lease review and the conditions, then coordinate the discharge with the outgoing lender so the two settlements meet. That handover is where refinances slip, and it is the part we watch hardest.
Track Record
Commercial Is Not a Sideline For Us
Most brokerages run almost entirely residential and treat commercial property as an occasional favour. We have run a commercial desk alongside residential since 2005.
Related Options
If This Isn’t Quite Your Deal
Refinancing sits inside a wider set of facilities. These are the ones people land on next.
Commercial property loan
Buying rather than refinancing, whether to occupy or to lease out.
Business debt consolidation
Several facilities across several lenders collapsed into one structure.
Cashflow and working capital
If the real problem is the payment gap rather than the property facility.
Low doc commercial
Trading well, but the financials are not current enough to re-qualify cleanly.
SMSF commercial property
Where the property is held inside super through a limited recourse structure.
Every commercial facility we arrange
Back up to the full commercial finance range if none of these is it.
Tell Us Your Rate and Expiry Date.
We’ll tell you whether moving is worth it, or whether to stay put.Questions Answered
Commercial Property Refinance FAQs
The questions owners and investors ask us most often before getting in touch.
What is a commercial property refinance?
A commercial property refinance replaces an existing facility secured by commercial property with a new one, either with the same lender or a different one. People do it to reprice, to release equity, to extend a term that is expiring, to consolidate several business debts, or to move away from a lender whose appetite for their industry has changed.
Will my property be revalued if I refinance?
Almost always. A new lender lends against its own valuation, not the figure your current lender used and not the price you paid. That valuation is the single biggest variable in a commercial refinance, because it sets the loan to value ratio and therefore how much can be advanced. It can come in above or below what you expect.
What does it cost to refinance a commercial property?
Expect a discharge fee from the outgoing lender, mortgage registration and deregistration costs, a valuation fee, legal costs, and an establishment fee on the new facility. If any part of your existing loan is fixed there may also be a break cost. These need modelling together before you apply, because the total decides whether the saving is real.
What are break costs on a fixed commercial loan?
A break cost is the lender’s economic cost of unwinding a fixed rate early. It is not a flat fee. It depends on how much of the fixed term is left, how large the balance is, and how wholesale funding rates have moved since the rate was set. It can be negligible or very large, and only your lender can quote it.
Can I release equity when I refinance a commercial property?
Often yes, subject to the new valuation and the lender’s loan to value limits. The tax treatment then depends on what you do with the money. The ATO’s position is that only interest incurred for an income-producing purpose is deductible, and that a loan used for both private and income-producing purposes must be apportioned. Confirm your position with a registered tax agent before you draw funds.
Does Best Interests Duty apply to a commercial refinance?
No. ASIC Regulatory Guide 273 states that the best interests obligations apply only to credit products regulated under the National Credit Act, meaning credit provided to consumers for personal, domestic or household purposes or for the purchase or improvement of residential investment property. A commercial property refinance is business purpose lending. We disclose in writing how we are paid on every transaction regardless.
When is it better to stay with my current lender?
When a repricing request gets you close to market. Asking your existing lender to review the rate costs nothing, needs no valuation and carries no exit costs, so it is worth doing first. Refinancing wins when the gap is structural rather than a few points, when you need equity released, when the term is expiring, or when the lender no longer wants your industry.
How long does a commercial refinance take?
Longer than most people plan for, because a valuation and often a lease review sit on the critical path, and the outgoing lender controls the discharge timetable. Start well before a fixed period ends or a facility expires. Leaving it to the last month removes your negotiating position and can force you to accept a rollover you did not want.
Visit Us
Penrith Based.Clients Australia-Wide.
Penrith is our head office and the one you can walk into without an appointment. We also meet clients at Parramatta and in the Sydney CBD by arrangement. Most refinances run by phone, email and video, so we work with owners and investors in every state.
Ready When You Are
What’s Your Rate and When Does It End?
Two numbers and fifteen minutes. We’ll tell you what the exit would cost, what the market would realistically price your facility at, and whether the gap between them justifies moving. If it doesn’t, we’ll tell you to ring your own lender instead. Penrith based, clients Australia-wide. Intellect Finance Pty Ltd, ACL 390611.
Business purpose lending sits outside the consumer credit framework, so Best Interests Duty does not apply to it. We disclose how we are paid before you proceed on every transaction. Nothing on this page is credit assistance, financial advice, tax advice or an offer of credit, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member
Important information General information only. Not credit assistance or an offer of credit. We charge you no fee. Every caveat and source on this page is collected here. Tap to read.
General information only. The content on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not credit assistance, financial advice, legal advice or tax advice, and it is not an offer of credit. You should consider whether it is appropriate for you and seek your own advice before acting on it.
Nothing here is a guarantee. Loan approval, borrowing capacity, interest rates, loan to value ratios, valuations, timeframes and eligibility are determined by individual lenders and by independent valuers, not by us. They differ between lenders and change over time, and specialised security is generally assessed more conservatively. Break costs are quoted by your own lender and we cannot estimate them. Any figure, range or timeframe on this page is indicative and is not a quote, an offer, or a prediction of your outcome.
Business purpose lending. Credit provided wholly or predominantly for business purposes is not regulated consumer credit, and the Best Interests Duty and responsible lending obligations under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 do not apply to it. We disclose how we are paid in writing before you proceed on every transaction regardless.
Tax and legal. GST, stamp duty, land tax and the tax treatment of any ownership structure depend on your circumstances and on how the contract is written. We are not tax agents, accountants or solicitors. Confirm the position with a registered tax agent, the Australian Taxation Office, your accountant or your solicitor before acting.
How we are paid. Intellect Finance does not charge borrowers a fee for arranging finance, and does not charge a clawback fee where a loan is discharged early. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement. The basis of that commission is disclosed to you in writing in our Credit Guide before any credit assistance is provided.
Third-party information. Where this page refers to government schemes, regulatory settings, tax treatment or lender policy, that information is sourced from the relevant authority and was correct to the best of our knowledge at the date shown on this page. Those rules change, sometimes without notice. Always confirm the current position with the issuing authority or with us before relying on it.
Found something wrong? If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate or out of date, tell us at joe@intellectfinance.com.au and we will review and correct it.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member