Equity-One: short-term first and second mortgage loans for business borrowers

Equity-One describes itself with a line many business owners will recognise: commercial property loans for when your bank is not being commercial. Based on Queen Street in Melbourne, it has been around for more than 20 years, became a managed investment fund in 2005 and says it has facilitated over $2b in commercial transactions, connecting business borrowers with its investors.

What makes Equity-One useful to profile is how much it publishes: a borrower list, a security list, a document list and a step-by-step timeline. This page sets all of that out as at October 2026, drawn from Equity-One’s own borrower and broker pages.

Equity-One’s loan at a glance

Feature	What Equity-One publishes
Loan amount	$50k to $10m; other amounts considered in some cases
Security position	First or second mortgage
Term	1 to 36 months, typically 12
Repayments	Interest-only, monthly or in advance
Not available	Principal and interest, redraw
Early payout	Allowed without interest rate break costs
Purposes	Buying property, refinancing, equity release or cash-out, business working capital
Apply	Online, by emailed or posted form, or through a broker

Because every loan is interest-only, the full principal is due at the end of the term. That makes the exit, whether a sale, a bank refinance or incoming cash, the centre of every application. Our glossary page on interest-only loans explains why that structure keeps monthly costs down but leaves the balance untouched.

Who can borrow, and against what

Equity-One is specific about borrower types, and they vary with the security:

Security	Who can borrow
Residential or rural residential	Companies, trusts, SMSFs, or individuals using the funds mainly for business
Commercial or industrial	Companies, trusts or SMSFs
Vacant land (including development sites)	Companies, trusts or SMSFs

Overall it lends to Australian-registered companies, trusts with a corporate trustee and SMSFs. It doesn’t lend to individuals or partnerships for consumer purposes. If your business is run through a family trust, business loans for trusts covers the deed, trustee and guarantee questions a lender will raise.

It won’t accept leasehold property or unique and specialised property, and it doesn’t do construction finance with progress payments, even though construction sites appear in its security list.

From enquiry to settlement: the published timeline

This is the most practical part of Equity-One’s site for anyone under time pressure:

Stage	Published timing
Finance quote	Same day as enquiry
Initial feedback	Within hours
Letter of offer	Within 24 hours of application
Valuation	Instructed once the commitment fee is paid; 3 to 5 days residential, 5 to 10 days commercial
Loan documents	Issued within 48 hours of instruction, prepared by its lawyers
Settlement	Within 48 hours of signed documents returning

The valuation row is the one to watch. The quote and offer are fast, but the valuation is usually the slowest step, and it only starts after you’ve paid a commitment fee. For a commercial property, add up the stages and you’re realistically looking at around two weeks from application to funds if everything goes smoothly. If your deadline is tighter, ask whether a recent valuation you already hold could be used: Equity-One lists an existing valuation report among the documents it requests.

On a deadline and not sure two weeks is enough? Tell us your settlement date and we’ll suggest lenders whose timing fits.

What Equity-One asks you to provide

Equity-One’s checklist is fuller than many private lenders’. It requests a reasonable set of financial information:

• the application form;
• the council rates notice on whatever property secures the loan;
• a valuation report, if you have one;
• a statement of position listing assets and liabilities;
• financial statements: final, management accounts or BAS;
• ATO records, meaning business and individual tax returns and your BAS position.

So this isn’t a no doc lender. If your tax returns are years behind, a lender that assesses mainly on equity and exit may be a better first stop; see business loans when tax returns aren’t up to date.

Who Equity-One suits

Good fit: a company, trust or SMSF with property equity that needs a short-term loan for a defined purpose, has its financials in reasonable order, wants an interest-only structure and has a clear plan to repay inside a year or so.

Harder fit: individuals borrowing for personal reasons, developers needing staged construction draws, owners of leasehold or specialised property, and anyone hoping to repay gradually with principal and interest.

If you have strong financials and plenty of time, put the same request to your bank too. Banks usually offer longer terms at a lower total cost and are well worth the effort when your application fits their policy. Equity-One’s strength is short, quick, equity-based lending when the bank’s answer is too slow or a no.

Five things to pin down with Equity-One

1. What is the commitment fee, and is it refundable if the valuation comes in low?
2. Adding establishment, valuation, legal and discharge costs, what’s the total dollar cost over 12 months?
3. If I pay interest in advance, how much is deducted on day one, and what comes back if I repay early?
4. As a second mortgage, will my first mortgagee need to consent?
5. What happens if I need an extra three months at the end of the term?

Our second mortgage calculator helps you check how much equity sits behind your existing loan before you ask.

If Equity-One isn’t the answer

• Need staged construction funding: see construction and development finance.
• Financials not available: no doc business loans assess mainly on property and exit.
• No property at all: unsecured business loans are sized on turnover instead.
• Want a longer-term loan: a first mortgage business loan from a bank or non-bank can run for many years.

Similar private lenders profiled here include Aquamore, which works only through brokers, and Private Mortgages Australia, which skips serviceability tests.

Short-term property loan? Let’s narrow down the lender

Equity-One is clear and quick for the right borrower, but whether it’s your best option turns on how your business is structured, which real estate is available as security, how current your books are and when the money has to land.

Untangling that is what we do. Expect our short form to occupy roughly sixty seconds, and rest easy that enquiring leaves no footprint on your credit history. What you share isn’t relayed along a chain of funders. A lending specialist studies the details and then rings for a proper conversation. Please get the property, existing debts and deadline right on the form, since those three answers decide which lender we’d rank first.

Check which lender fits my timeline →