When your cash flow lender won't lend any more, or won't lend enough

You’ve got a contract that needs funding, a tax bill to clear or a growth plan ready to go. Your cash flow lender has said yes before, but now the answer is “not until you’ve paid more off”, or an offer for a fraction of what you asked for. If you own property, you don’t have to accept that ceiling.

Why cash flow lenders hit a ceiling

Unsecured cash flow lending is built on a simple rule: lend a slice of what flows through the account. That rule creates three common walls.

The turnover cap. A business turning over $80k a month might only be offered a fraction of that, no matter how much it actually needs.

The no top-up rule. Once you have a loan, many lenders won’t add to it until a large part has been repaid.

The stacking problem. A second lender sees the first lender’s debits on your statements and declines, or offers a small, expensive loan.

Borrow on equity, not turnover

A property-secured business loan is sized on the equity in residential or commercial property, not on monthly deposits. That changes the numbers completely:

• From $20k to $5 million, depending on your equity
• No valuation needed before approval
• Approval possible within the hour, with funds in your account in as little as 24 hours
• Up to 6 months with no repayments, with the interest added to the loan

Pay out the old loan at the same time

The new loan can pay out your existing cash flow loan at settlement. That does two things at once: it gives you the extra money you need, and it stops the daily or weekly debits that have been squeezing your account. See refinancing cash flow loans with property.

Is it right for you?

A property-secured loan suits you if:

• You own property with equity, personally or through a company or trust
• You need more than your cash flow lender will lend
• You have a clear plan to repay, such as a contract paying out, a property sale or a later bank refinance

It’s short-term and flexible: repay early at any time, or extend without penalties if your plans take longer.

Get started

Have the property’s rates notice and mortgage statement handy, plus a statement from your current cash flow lender showing the payout figure. Then send your enquiry. It takes about 60 seconds, and a lending manager will usually call within 30 minutes in business hours.

A typical example

A wholesale food distributor in Adelaide turns over around $150k a month. It wins a supermarket contract that needs $600k of stock and packaging up front. Its cash flow lender offers $120k, the most its turnover model allows, and won’t top up the $80k loan it already has.

The owners have a warehouse with a bank loan on it, and plenty of equity behind it. A second mortgage business loan of $680k pays out the existing cash flow loan and funds the stock in full. There are no repayments for the first 6 months, so the contract’s first payments go back into the business, and the owners plan to refinance to their bank once the contract has been running for a year.

Questions to ask yourself first

• How much do I really need? Include any loans you want paid out, tax owing and a buffer. It’s better to borrow the right amount once than to come back short.
• What’s the property situation? Who owns it, roughly what it’s worth and what’s owed on it.
• How will it be repaid? A contract, a sale, a refinance or improved trading.

Why not just take what the cash flow lender offers?

Sometimes a small top-up is the right answer. But taking part of what you need often creates a second problem a few weeks later, with another application, another set of debits and less room to move. Funding the whole need properly, on terms that give you time, is usually the stronger move.

Find out what you could borrow: start your enquiry.

How the money is released

At settlement, any existing cash flow loans you’ve asked to pay out are paid directly to those lenders, and the rest lands in your business account. From that point you have one loan to manage. If you’ve chosen no repayments for the first 6 months, the interest is added to the loan and nothing comes out of your account while you get the contract, stock or project moving.

When the plan pays off, you can repay early at any time. If it takes a little longer than expected, you can extend without penalties.