$1,550,000 Acquisition in San Francisco, CA
What Happens When Your SBA Loan Falls Through?
Loan Amount: $1,550,000
Loan Term: 12 Months
LTC: Under 60%
Lien Position: 1st Deed of Trust
For small business owners, losing an SBA loan at the last minute can feel like the deal is dead. Months of preparation, a property under contract, and a business plan ready to execute, all of it suddenly in jeopardy because of a financing issue outside of your control. For the right borrower with the right property, it does not have to end there.
When an SBA Loan Is Not an Option
A San Francisco-based tire shop owner had been running a successful operation for years and was ready to expand into a new line within the industry. To support that growth, he identified an industrial building in South San Francisco, a concrete warehouse-style property in an established industrial corridor, ideal for storing inventory at scale.
The location was strong. South San Francisco has a well-established industrial market with solid demand and plenty of comparable properties in the area. This was not a speculative purchase. It was a business owner making a practical, strategic move to support real growth.
He had his SBA loan lined up and was ready to close. Then, days before closing, a policy change disqualified him from the loan. His deal was suddenly at risk of falling apart entirely, through no fault of his own and with very little time to find an alternative.
Why a Private Lender Made Sense
Beyond the SBA loan issue, this borrower’s profile was not a straightforward fit for traditional bank financing. Conventional lenders can have rigid underwriting criteria, and when a borrower’s situation does not check every box, the deal stalls regardless of how strong the underlying property is.
This is a situation that comes up more often than people realize. A strong, creditworthy deal that does not fit neatly into a conventional lending box can find itself without financing options, even when the asset and the business case are both sound. Banks and conventional lenders evaluate the borrower first. Private lenders can evaluate the asset first, which changes everything.
For this borrower, the asset was the story.
How Rubicon Mortgage Fund, LLC Stepped In
The deal came in through a mortgage broker we had worked with closely over the years. Once we reviewed it, the path forward was clear.
We funded the purchase on a 12-month short term loan. The property itself made the case: solid concrete construction, 7,500 square feet on 0.17 acres, in a good South San Francisco location with strong comparable industrial properties nearby. The borrower had a clear path forward, and the 12-month term gave him the runway to get there.
At Rubicon Mortgage Fund, LLC we lend on the asset. When the property is right and the exit strategy is credible, we can move where traditional lenders cannot. This deal had both.
SBA Loan Not an Option? There Is Another Way
California private money lenders like Rubicon exist specifically for situations like this one: a sound deal that does not fit a conventional box. Whether it is a tight timeline, a complex borrower profile, or an SBA loan that fell through at the last minute, asset-based lending opens doors that bank financing closes.
Every year, deals like this one fall apart not because the property is bad or the borrower is unqualified, but because the financing structure does not match the situation. That is the gap we fill.
If you are a mortgage broker or borrower dealing with a situation that conventional lenders have passed on, this is exactly the kind of deal we want to hear about.
About Rubicon Mortgage Fund: We are a California-based private money lender with over 15 years of experience funding commercial and residential bridge loans. We lend on the asset, move fast, and work with borrowers and brokers that traditional lenders turn away.
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