Free calculator Two loans, as little as 10% down
SBA 504 loan calculator
A 504 loan buys a building or long-lasting equipment with two loans: one from a bank for about half, and one from a Certified Development Company (CDC) for up to 40%. Enter the cost to see the split, the fees, both payments and the cash you'd need at closing.
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- SBA's published fees
- Bank loan
- $500,000
- CDC loan$400,000 plus $13,000 of fees built in
- $413,000
- Your down payment
- $100,000
A conventional loan on the same building usually needs $200,000 down. With the bank's closing costs, the 504 needs $115,000 at closing.
SBA 504 calculator
What would a 504 loan look like for you?
It starts with a made-up $1,000,000 building. Replace it with your project. Everything is worked out in your browser.
Both loans' payments
$6,937 a month
$83,247 a year, on $913,000 borrowed
- Bank loan
- $500,00050% of the project, $4,026 a month
- CDC loan
- $413,00040% of the project with $13,000 of fees built in, $2,911 a month
- Down payment
- $100,00010% of the project
- Bank's closing costs
- $15,000paid at closing, SBA's fee on the bank loan included
- Cash to bring to closingCash to bring to closing. What you pay on the day the loan closes: the down payment, plus any closing costs you chose to pay rather than add to the loan.
- $115,000A conventional loan usually needs $200,000 down
- Cash flow to cover itDebt coverage (DSCR). The debt service coverage ratio: a year's cash flow divided by a year's loan payments, old and new. 1.30x means $1.30 of cash flow for every $1 of payments. Most lenders want at least 1.25x, and SBA lenders 1.15x. The full check counts the owners too: their other income, their living costs and their personal loan payments.
- $95,734 a yearat SBA's 1.15x minimum, before your other loans
Every fee, item by item
Built into the CDC loan
- The CDC's share of the project
- $400,000
- SBA guaranty fee (0.5%)
- $2,000
- SBA funding fee (0.25%)
- $1,000
- CDC processing fee (1.5%)
- $6,000
- CDC closing and legal fee
- $2,000
- Fee to sell the CDC loan to investors (0.4%)
- $1,652
- Rounded up to the next $1,000
- $348
- CDC loan
- $413,000
The bank's closing costs
- Appraisal
- $3,500
- Environmental report
- $2,500
- Title insurance and recording (0.5% of the bank loan)
- $2,500
- Bank's attorney
- $1,500
- Bank loan fee (0.5%)
- $2,500
- SBA's fee on the bank loan (0.5%)
- $2,500
- Bank's closing costs
- $15,000
An estimate, not a bank-ready answer. The bank sets its own rate and costs, the CDC its own closing fee, and the CDC loan's rate is set when SBA sells it. The full check works out your coverage with every loan you have, and whether you'd have enough cash left after closing.
Run the full checkHow a 504 loan is split
50% from a bank, up to 40% from a CDC, at least 10% from you.
The bank lends about 50% of the project and takes the first lien on the property. The CDC lends most of the rest, fully backed by SBA, and takes the second lien. You put in the rest.
When you need more down
- 15% if the business has run for 2 years or less: on $1,000,000, that's $150,000 down.
- 15% for a special-purpose building, made for one kind of business, like a hotel, car wash or gas station.
- 20% for both: $200,000 on $1,000,000.
The CDC's share shrinks to match, and the bank's stays the same (13 CFR 120.910).
Until the CDC loan funds
SBA sells CDC loans to investors once a month, usually after the building is bought or finished. Until then, the bank lends the CDC's share too, on a short interim loan, and the CDC loan pays it off.
The rates
The bank sets the rate and term on its loan. The CDC loan has a fixed rate for its whole term of 10, 20 or 25 years, set when SBA sells it: 6.97% on 25-year loans sold in October 2026, with SBA's and the CDC's yearly fees included.
What a 504 loan costs
The CDC's fees go in its loan. The bank's are paid at closing.
These are built into the CDC loan, so you don't pay them at closing:
- SBA's guaranty fee of 0.5%, which SBA waives for manufacturers, food supply chain and rural businesses, and its funding fee of 0.25%.
- The CDC's processing fee of 1.5%, and a closing and legal fee the CDC sets, commonly up to about $2,500. The calculator uses $2,000.
- 0.4% of the CDC loan to sell it to investors, and the loan is rounded up to the next $1,000.
On the $1,000,000 building, they come to $13,000. The bank's closing costs come to $15,000: typical amounts for an appraisal, an environmental report, title insurance, the bank's attorney and its loan fee, plus SBA's 0.5% fee on the bank loan. You can add them to the bank loan or pay them at closing.
SBA's fees are for loans approved from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027 (SBA Information Notice 5000-881796). The SBA fee calculator works out the 7(a)'s.
Who can use a 504
A business buying a place to work, or equipment that lasts.
- It pays for land, buildings, and machinery and equipment with a useful life of 10 years or more, plus some refinancing. Not working capital, inventory, or real estate rented to others.
- On a building, the business uses at least 51% of it, or 60% of one being built.
- The CDC loan goes up to $5,500,000. It needs one job created or kept for every $95,000 of the CDC loan ($150,000 for small manufacturers and energy projects), or one of SBA's community goals.
- Cash flow of at least 1.15 times every loan payment, the business's and the owners', in the latest year and the year before. That's the minimum the full check holds a 504 to.
7(a) or 504?
See what each needs down and at closing for the same building, and which fits what you're buying.
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Find out whether a lender would say yes.
The full check works out your coverage with both 504 loans and every loan you have, and the cash you'd have left after closing.
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