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Bridge to SBA: how to plan the refinance from day one

By The BuildUp Capital Team · February 21, 2026

A bridge-to-SBA plan uses short-term capital to close now and refinance into an SBA loan once the SBA timeline catches up. The key is planning the refinance from day one — sizing the bridge so the SBA take-out is clean.

SBA loans are excellent permanent debt and painfully slow to close. When a deal has a deadline, a bridge funds it on time; the SBA loan then refinances the bridge weeks or months later.

It only works if the exit is real: the deal has to qualify for the SBA take-out, and the bridge has to be sized so that refinance pays it off in full. We underwrite that exit before we fund.

This is the path for many bank- and SBA-fallout borrowers — they were creditworthy all along; they just needed to close before the process finished.

Own real estate and need capital? Get an instant read on fit — see if your deal qualifies → (60 seconds, no contact info needed), or get a term sheet →.

Related: Bridge loans · Lending in Texas

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