- Amount
- $250,000 – $10 million
- Term
- 1 – 5 years
- Speed
- Weeks rather than days
Land readiness financing covers the stage most lenders skip: everything between buying a parcel and being able to build on it. Entitlements, zoning approvals, permitting, surveys, environmental work, grading, drainage, roads and utility connections all cost money long before a vertical construction loan is available.
That gap is where good sites stall. Because the collateral is land rather than an income-producing asset, these facilities are underwritten on the plan as much as the dirt — the entitlement path, the timeline, the exit, and the sponsor’s record of getting sites through approval. The usual exit is a construction loan or a sale to a builder once the parcel is shovel-ready.
Commonly used for
- Acquiring raw or partially entitled land
- Funding entitlement and rezoning work
- Permitting, surveys and environmental review
- Grading, drainage, roads and utility connections
- Holding a site through approval to a construction take-out
What it generally takes to qualify
- At least one year in business
- Around $15,000 or more in monthly revenue
- A credit score of roughly 500 or better
Guidelines, not hard cut-offs — tell us the situation and we will tell you where it stands.
Questions
How is this different from a construction loan?
A construction loan funds the building. Land readiness funds everything that has to happen before one can start — the horizontal work and approvals that make a parcel buildable. The two are usually sequential, and the construction loan is often the exit.
Can raw, unentitled land qualify?
Yes, though advance rates are lower and the entitlement plan carries more weight in underwriting. The clearer and better evidenced the path to approval, the better the terms.
What is the exit?
Most commonly a construction loan once the site is shovel-ready, or a sale to a builder. Underwriting will want that exit identified up front, not assumed.
Related products
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