Question 1

We're buying the lab building our biotech supplier already works out of near RTP. How much of it do we need to occupy ourselves?

Accepted Answer

At least 51 percent, if it's an existing building. SBA rules require the business to occupy a majority of an existing building financed with a 7(a) or 504 loan. New construction is a different, stricter test: at least 60 percent of the new space must go to your own business, with no more than 20 percent permanently leased to other tenants and the rest covered by an absorption plan. Research Triangle Park's built space dates to a 1959 founding, so a buyer eyeing a repositioned RTP office or lab building is more likely to hit the existing-building test than the new-construction one.

Question 2

A dentist near NC State wants to buy the building her practice has operated out of for eighteen months. How much does she need to bring to closing?

Accepted Answer

Plan on 15 percent down, not the 10 percent you may have heard quoted for SBA 504. The ordinary borrower contribution on a 504 loan is 10 percent, but it steps up to 15 percent if the business has been operating less than two years or the property is single-purpose, and to 20 percent if both apply. A dental or medical practice under two years old buying the building it operates out of, common in a Wake County adding roughly 66 people a day, typically lands in that 15 percent tier.

Question 3

Are SBA loan fees still waived like I read they were in 2025?

Accepted Answer

No, and any guide that still says so is out of date. Fees were reinstated for fiscal year 2026, covering loans approved October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026: the 7(a) upfront guarantee fee runs 2 to 3.5 percent or more depending on loan size, and the 504 program carries a 0.50 percent upfront fee plus a 0.209 percent annual fee. Small manufacturers get a partial break, which could matter to a life-sciences supplier around Research Triangle Park, but a Raleigh office, clinic or retail buyout should budget for these fees as part of closing costs.

Question 4

Is there a cap on how large an SBA 504 loan can get for a building near Research Triangle Park?

Accepted Answer

Yes: $5 million standard, with a $5.5 million ceiling reserved for small manufacturers and qualifying energy projects. A professional office, lab or clinic buyer near RTP outside those two carve-outs underwrites to the $5 million cap on the 504 portion of the deal. That's a federal regulation, not a lender preference, so it applies the same whether the property sits inside the park's 7,000 acres or elsewhere in Wake County.

Question 5

What kind of Raleigh business actually fits an SBA loan?

Accepted Answer

Owner-occupied buyers built around the university-and-research economy: medical and dental practices, veterinary clinics, professional-services firms, and lab or biotech operators near Research Triangle Park. The Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill metros together support roughly a 1.14 million-job labor market anchored by three research universities, state government payrolls of 55,300, and health care and social assistance employment of 96,400. If your building will stay leased out rather than owner-occupied, permanent CRE financing is the better fit than SBA.

Question 6

Does North Carolina's corporate tax rate matter when I'm choosing how to structure the business buying the building?

Accepted Answer

It can, and it's moving fast: North Carolina's corporate income tax rate is phasing down to 0 percent by 2030, and an LLC taxed as a partnership pays no state franchise tax at all. That's a real variable in how a Raleigh practice or small business owner structures the entity that will hold the SBA-financed property, alongside the loan terms themselves. Talk to your North Carolina CPA before you decide: we underwrite the loan, not the entity structure.

Question 7

Is there a minimum SBA loan size for a Raleigh deal?

Accepted Answer

$350,000, and we place up to $5 million and above. That floor rules out the smallest requests but covers what an owner-occupied Raleigh purchase actually costs, whether it is a dental practice buying the building it operates from near NC State or a lab operator near Research Triangle Park. The property has to be owner-occupied, and we place both 7(a) and 504 through relationships with more than 20 SBA lenders. Subject to underwriting.

Question 8

How long can I amortize an SBA loan on a Raleigh building?

Accepted Answer

Up to 25 years, at market SBA rates. That long term is the structural argument for SBA over a bridge or a conventional commercial loan on an owner-occupied Raleigh property, and financing runs up to 90% of the deal. The cost to weigh against it is fees, which were reinstated for fiscal year 2026 rather than waived, so a Raleigh clinic or office buyout should carry them in the closing budget. Subject to underwriting.

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