Question 1

Who actually funds an SBA loan on a Dallas building?

Accepted Answer

A partner lender does, not us. USA Mortgage arranges and places SBA 7(a) and 504 financing across a network of more than 20 SBA lenders; we are not ourselves an SBA lender. That shapes what we are useful for. We shop the file, match the scenario to 7(a) or 504, and keep it moving, while the approval, the rate and the 25-year structure come from the lender and, on a 504, the certified development company. We also do not quote local SBA approval volume for the Dallas district, because we have not found a current figure we can stand behind, and a made-up number is worse than no number. Start an application and we will tell you which program fits before you fill out anything long.

Question 2

Is buying an office building in DFW a bargain or a trap for an owner-user?

Accepted Answer

It depends almost entirely on the vintage of the building, not on the metro average. DFW office ran 17.4% vacancy in the second quarter of 2026 across roughly 420.3 million square feet, with availability at 18.6%, average asking rent of $33.66 per square foot, up 2.0% year over year, and a ninth consecutive quarter of positive net absorption, about 1.9 million square feet over the trailing 12 months. The number that matters for an owner-user is the split underneath it: roughly 42% of vacant space sits in 1980s-vintage buildings, while demand concentrates in newer product along the Dallas North Tollway corridor. So the soft market is mostly an old-building market. If you occupy the whole property yourself, cheap older stock can be exactly the right buy. If your plan leans on leasing the space you do not occupy, price that space at what 1980s product actually leases for, not at the $33.66 average.

Question 3

What about buying a retail building for my own business?

Accepted Answer

Tighter market, less negotiating room, and the retail data runs a quarter behind office and industrial. Dallas retail vacancy was 5.4% in the first quarter of 2026, up 20 basis points on the quarter and 40 basis points on the year, with net absorption of negative 25,401 square feet, average asking rent of $21.23 per square foot, up 7.3% year over year, 7.0 million square feet under construction at 75% preleased, and 894,610 square feet delivered, down 37.9% year over year. At 5.4% vacancy, a landlord has little reason to discount, which is the usual argument for owning instead of renewing. The trade is that you buy at a tight-market basis. Compare your all-in payment against the renewal quote in front of you, and bring both numbers when you talk to us.

Question 4

I need warehouse space. Is DFW industrial too hot to buy into?

Accepted Answer

It is the strongest absorption market in the country, and the supply pipeline is what keeps it buyable. JLL counted 17.9 million square feet of net absorption across Dallas-Fort Worth in the first half of 2026, the highest of any U.S. industrial market, with vacancy down for seven straight quarters to 9.3% and average asking rent at $8.99 per square foot as of the second quarter. CBRE tracks the same market at 8.3% vacancy with 24.0 million square feet under construction, against JLL's 31.2 million at 37.7% preleased. That gap is a definition difference in what counts as tracked inventory, so pick one house and stay with it rather than blending. For an owner-user, tens of millions of square feet still under construction means there is product to buy and a landlord alternative to price against. If you need the space before an SBA file can close, we fund commercial bridge loans with our own capital and can refinance out.

Question 5

How much does the property tax bill change across the Dallas metro?

Accepted Answer

About 56 basis points of assessed value, and on a 25-year hold that dwarfs the rate shopping you are doing. On tax year 2025 rates, the City of Dallas inside Dallas ISD totals 2.235030 per $100 of assessed value, while Frisco inside Frisco ISD in Collin County totals 1.675480. On a $500,000 basis that is roughly $2,800 a year. The rate follows the city-ISD-county combination, not the city name: a Dallas address can sit in at least seven ISDs, with totals inside Dallas County running from 2.104563 in Highland Park ISD to 2.362101 in Lancaster ISD, and a Dallas address can also fall in Collin or Denton County at a materially lower county component. MUDs, PIDs and other special districts stack on top and are not in those totals; several in Collin and Denton counties run a full 1.000000 per $100, which would take a Frisco-area total of 1.675480 to about 2.68 per $100. Pull the actual rate for the parcel before you sign anything, and run the 25-year number with your CPA.

Question 6

What insurance surprise catches out-of-state buyers on a DFW building?

Accepted Answer

The wind and hail deductible, not the premium. Texas hail policies commonly carry a separate percentage-of-value deductible rather than a flat dollar amount, and consumer advocates report that most policyholders do not understand it until they file. On a commercial building that difference is real money: a percentage deductible scales with the insured value, so the roof claim you were budgeting at a few thousand dollars can land far higher. Your SBA lender will require coverage in place at closing, so read the deductible structure on the quote rather than comparing premiums alone. We do not publish a DFW premium figure, because the sources we found are agency estimates rather than filed data. Get a real quote on the specific building early, and have your broker walk you through the deductible before you set the operating budget.

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