Funding a Business Acquisition Against Double Bay Commercial and Mixed Use Security

A lot of the Double Bay calls we take are from people who own a shop or a small mixed use building around the village and want to buy a business with the equity in it, and that can usually be done as a short-term first mortgage over the building, but commercial and mixed use security is capped at 70% of value rather than the 75% we'd go to on residential.

Key facts for Double Bay (2028), 12 months to September 2026

• Median four-bedroom house: $8.125 million.
• Median three-bedroom apartment: $3.8775 million. Two-bedroom: $1.7375 million.
• 111 unit sales against 26 house sales across the whole suburb.
• Three-bedroom apartments took about 60 days to sell, two-bedroom apartments about 42 days.
• Auction clearance: 51% on three-bedroom units, 58% on two-bedroom units, 31% on four-bedroom houses.
• 57% owner-occupiers, across a population of about 4,636.

Why the cap is 70% on commercial and mixed use

It comes down to how quickly the security can be sold and how confidently it can be valued, because a retail or mixed use building is priced partly off the income it produces and partly off what a buyer would pay for the bricks, and both of those move around more than a residential number does. A vacancy, a lease coming up for renewal or an incentive given away to keep a tenant can all shift the assessment, and where a building is genuinely mixed we'll usually look at how the two halves value separately before deciding which cap applies. We've set out what lenders will fund on retail and commercial stock in Sydney in more detail, because the asset class ends up mattering as much as the cap does.

A worked Double Bay example

Say a company owns a mixed use building near the village, with a retail tenancy at ground level and two apartments above it, one three-bedroom and one two-bedroom. Valued off the Double Bay unit medians the residential half comes to $5,615,000, which is $3,877,500 plus $1,737,500, and that's a deliberately conservative way to look at it because it gives the retail tenancy downstairs no separate value at all. The directors have found a business they want to buy and need $3.6 million.

The valuation would have to come in more than 8% under before the same loan stopped fitting, which is the sort of margin you want on security that values across a range. If this were a straight residential block the 75% line would be $4,211,250 and the owner could draw $280,750 more against the identical building, so if you have both commercial and residential property available it's usually worth talking about which one carries the loan.

How long would it take to sell in Double Bay?

If the exit is a sale then the residential part of the market is the quicker read, with Domain showing about 42 days for two-bedroom apartments and 60 days for three-bedroom ones, and clearance at 51% to 58% on units against 31% on houses. Domain publishes nothing for houses on days on market, because 26 house sales in a year won't make a figure.

Commercial and mixed use stock is slower again and much more dependent on who is looking that quarter, so if a sale is how the facility gets repaid rather than a refinance, take the term out to twelve or eighteen months rather than six.

What actually settles here

Two private mortgages settled against Double Bay property in the 90 days to August 2026, one a $7,148,750 first mortgage at 68.8% against an apartment funding a purchase, and the other a $650,000 second sitting behind an existing bank at 70% combined against a house, to put capital into a business. Neither borrower was in difficulty and both were buying speed.

Across the eastern suburbs there were thirteen in that window, at a median 75% LVR and from $146,910 to $7,148,750, and nationally 196, with 82% secured by residential property at a median loan of $765,500 and a split of 115 first mortgages and 81 seconds. Refinance led the purposes on 55, then purchase 42, working capital 39 and business investment 26, so this is mostly a market for releasing and refinancing capital.

What Vía Private lends on

What we will not do

We don't do consumer credit regulated by the National Credit Act, so a personal purpose secured by the home you live in isn't something we can help with. We don't fund construction or development, so a fitout or a building programme on the security is out, and we don't lend against vacant land or pre-DA sites. We also won't lend where there's no credible exit, and an acquisition that has to trade well before anyone gets repaid isn't one, and we won't lend against a valuation we haven't tested ourselves.

Questions people ask

Can I borrow against a commercial property to buy a business? Yes, as a short-term first or second mortgage over the property. Vía Private lends from $1 million to $20 million as a first mortgage, on business and investment purposes only, to companies, trusts with a corporate trustee and SMSFs.

What LVR applies to commercial or mixed use security? Up to 70% of value, compared with up to 75% on residential security.

How is a mixed use building assessed? The residential and commercial components are usually looked at separately, with the lease profile, vacancy and any incentives feeding into the commercial side, and where a building is genuinely mixed the 70% cap is the safer planning assumption.

Does my income matter? Less than it would at a bank. Short-term property-secured lending is assessed mainly on the security and the exit, and interest is commonly prepaid or capitalised rather than paid monthly from income.

How long does it take to sell in Double Bay? About 42 days for two-bedroom and 60 days for three-bedroom apartments on Domain data for the 12 months to September 2026. Domain publishes no figure for houses, where clearance ran at 31%, and commercial stock is slower again.

Getting a Double Bay scenario looked at

Most of the scenarios we see come through accredited mortgage brokers, so if you're already working with one, send them this page and they can put it to us. If you'd rather come to us first, email begin@viaprivate.com.au with the property, the amount you need, what it's for and how you plan to repay it.

Nearby: Bellevue Hill · Rose Bay · Woollahra · Paddington · Vaucluse

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Figures are indicative and for illustration only. Median values are Domain suburb data for the 12 months to September 2026. Market commentary is from the Domain House Price Report, June quarter 2026. Settlement counts are from a private lending panel covering 196 mortgages funded nationally in the 90 days to August 2026. Transfer duty is calculated at Revenue NSW 2026-27 rates. Vía Private lends to companies, trusts and SMSFs for business and investment purposes only and does not provide consumer credit regulated by the National Credit Act. This page is general information and does not take your objectives or circumstances into account. Last reviewed 13 September 2026.