The quick read: Finance a brick two-family rehab in St. Louis with a short-term, business-purpose loan that each lender sizes against project cost, after-repair value (ARV) or both, then exit by sale or refinance. Decide the exit before closing: the city will not grant a short-term rental permit on a parcel actively benefiting from tax abatement or tax increment financing (TIF), so taking abatement to make the rehab pencil gives up the nightly-rental exit.
How do you finance a brick two-family rehab in St. Louis?
You finance a brick two-family rehab with a short-term business-purpose loan that each lender sizes against project cost, after-repair value or both, then exit by sale or refinance; in St. Louis, decide first whether you want tax abatement or a nightly-rental exit, because the city will not permit both on one parcel.
Start with the property decision, not the loan. A vacant brick two-family in a neighborhood such as Tower Grove South, Benton Park, Dutchtown or The Grove is usually a bet on scope: roofs, tuckpointing, mechanicals, two kitchens and two baths, and whatever the walls hide. Comparable sales tell you what the finished building is worth; the rehab budget tells you whether you get there. The loan only bridges the time between the purchase and the exit, so the right loan is the one whose draw mechanics fund that scope and whose term outlasts it. If you plan to live in one unit, the boundary between a business-purpose loan and a consumer loan moves, which is a question for your attorney before you sign.
What loan terms should you expect on a St. Louis rehab loan?
Published, dated sources give general ranges for fix-and-flip loans rather than quotes from any lender in the city: NerdWallet puts typical repayment at six to 24 months and maximum LTV usually up to 90%, while points, draw fees and extension fees are not published, so those become written questions for every lender.
Fix-and-flip loan terms to get in writing (source: NerdWallet's fix-and-flip guide, updated Feb 11, 2026; these are general product ranges, not quotes from St. Louis lenders, and terms vary by lender and by file):
| Term | What the published source says | What to ask each lender in writing |
|---|---|---|
| Term Repayment term | What the published source says "Typically ranging from six to 24 months" | What to ask each lender in writing The extension fee, and whether the extension is contractual or discretionary |
| Term Loan-to-value | What the published source says "Usually up to 90%" | What to ask each lender in writing Whether the percentage applies to as-is value or after-repair value |
| Term Loan-to-cost | What the published source says "Some offer loans up to a 90% LTC or higher" | What to ask each lender in writing Whether the rehab budget sits inside the cap and is held back for draws |
| Term Interest rate | What the published source says Typically higher than at lenders that do not specialize in fix-and-flip loans; no figure published | What to ask each lender in writing The rate, any floor, the default rate and the late fee |
| Term Points | What the published source says No public, dated source | What to ask each lender in writing Entry and exit points, and whether they are financed or paid in cash |
| Term Draws | What the published source says No public, dated source | What to ask each lender in writing Who inspects, the fee per inspection and days from request to wire |
Worked loan-to-cost example: 80% of a $120,000 project cost is $96,000, per the same guide.
Worked ARV example: at 70% of ARV, a lender lends a maximum of $140,000 on a home worth $200,000 after repairs, per the same guide.
The denominator matters more than the percentage. Make each lender state which number its percentage applies to and whether the rehab money is inside that cap. For how the rehab portion is usually held back, see our guide on how much of the rehab a fix-and-flip lender will fund, and for the release mechanics, our fix-and-flip draw schedule guide.
How does tax abatement change the short-term rental exit in St. Louis?
Taking tax abatement or tax increment financing removes the nightly-rental exit, because the city's short-term rental FAQ says permits will not be granted to a unit in a structure or on a parcel actively benefiting from either, so price that trade before you close, not after the rehab is finished.
Abatement and TIF exclusion: "Short-Term Rental Permits will not be granted to any Short-Term Rental Unit which offers a minimum stay of less than two (2) nights or is located within a structure or upon a parcel actively benefiting from tax increment financing or tax abatement," per the City of St. Louis Short-Term Rental Permits FAQ.
Minimum stay: two nights, per the same FAQ.
Owner-occupied permits: "You can only get one of this type of permit," per the same FAQ.
Non-occupied permits: "Owners are only able to seek four of this type of permit," per the same FAQ.
Multifamily structures: the FAQ says the ordinance "caps the number of short-term rentals in multifamily structures" but does not state the number on that page, so get the figure for your building from the city in writing.
License fee: Ordinance 72095, approved Feb. 23, 2026, imposes a license fee of three percent of the rent charged for each short-term rental, paid quarterly.
If abatement is what makes the rehab work, underwrite on a sale or a long-term rent roll and tell every lender that is the exit. If nightly rental is the plan, model the full tax bill plus the license fee. Rules and their enforcement can change, so confirm the permit's current status with the city's Building Division before a lender or an appraiser sizes anything on nightly income.
What city inspections sit between your rehab and your exit in St. Louis?
Every residential sale and every rental unit needs a city Certificate of Inspection before anyone moves in, because the city says all property sits in a Housing Conservation District, so build the inspection, its fee and its scheduling window into your timeline and your draw budget before you sign the loan.
Sales: "For residential sales, a Certificate of Inspection must be obtained before occupancy of the unit is permitted," per the city's Residential Occupancy Permit page.
Rentals: a Certificate of Inspection is required before occupancy of a rental unit, with reinspection every three years or upon a change in occupancy for rental dwelling units; owner-occupied properties are exempt from reinspection, per the same page.
Coverage: "100% of property in St. Louis is located in a Housing Conservation District," and Ordinance No. 71835 requires the inspection, per the same page.
Fees: $120 for the initial application on a vacant unit and $65 for each additional application at the same address, so $185 for both vacant units of a two-family by our arithmetic; an occupied unit without a current certificate is $200, per the same page.
Scheduling: inspections can be scheduled from three business days to 15 days after you apply, per the same page.
Lead-safe work: EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires that "anyone paid to perform work that disturbs painted surfaces in homes, childcare facilities and preschools built before 1978 be certified and their employees be trained" (EPA page updated June 17, 2026).
A century-old brick two-family is pre-1978 housing, so hire certified contractors and keep their certificates in the loan file.
Can historic tax credits help fund a brick rehab in St. Louis?
Historic tax credits can help when the building qualifies as a certified historic structure, but the federal 20% credit applies only to certified historic income-producing buildings and is claimed over five years, so it suits a rehab you hold and rent, not a quick flip you sell at completion.
Federal credit: "20 percent of the 'qualified rehabilitation expenditures'" on a certified historic structure, taken ratably over five years for expenditures after Dec. 31, 2017, per the IRS rehabilitation credit FAQs (last reviewed July 23, 2026).
Federal eligibility: depreciation must be allowable with respect to the building, and qualified expenditures must exceed the greater of the building's adjusted basis or $5,000 during a selected 24-month period (60 months in certain cases), per the same IRS page.
Missouri credit: 25% of the total costs and expenses of rehabilitation for a certified historic structure or a structure in a certified historic district, under RSMo 253.550 (version effective Aug. 28, 2026).
Missouri qualifying-county rate: 35% of the total costs and expenses of rehabilitation incurred on or after July 1, 2024, for eligible property that is in a qualifying county and is a certified historic structure, as the statute defines those terms.
Missouri cost threshold: rehabilitation costs and expenses must exceed 50% of the total basis in the property, per the same section.
Both credits are earned on rehabilitation costs and expenses you incur, and the Missouri credit is issued subject to the statute's own provisions, so plan to fund the rehab without them. Ask each lender whether it will count any expected credit in sizing or treat it only as a source of later paydown, and get that answer in writing before the scope is designed around preservation standards.
What does Missouri law say about the rate on a business-purpose rehab loan?
Missouri lets a lender and a borrowing LLC, corporation or partnership agree in writing to any rate of interest, fees and other terms under RSMo 408.035, and the same applies to credit extended primarily for business or commercial purposes, so the note you sign, not a usury cap, is your protection.
Entity loans: parties may agree in writing to "any rate of interest, fees, and other terms and conditions" on a loan to a corporation, general partnership, limited partnership or limited liability company, per RSMo 408.035 (version effective Aug. 28, 2024).
Business-purpose credit: the same section covers an extension of credit "primarily for agricultural, business, or commercial purposes."
Real estate category: the section's real estate category covers a real estate loan "other than residential real estate loans," and a two-family is residential property, so the entity and business-purpose categories are the ones that matter for a rehab held in an LLC.
For an investor buying in an LLC, the practical result is that default rates, late fees, extension fees and prepayment terms deserve as much scrutiny as the coupon. If you or a relative will live in one of the units, or you borrow in your own name, the analysis can change; take that question to your attorney before you sign.
What does new construction cost per unit in the St. Louis metro?
New two-unit buildings permitted in the metro during 2025 carried an average permit valuation of $139,705 per unit, by our arithmetic on Census Bureau data, against $157,702 per unit in 5+ unit buildings, which gives a two-family rehab a structure-cost yardstick for its all-in cost per unit.
St. Louis, MO-IL metro (CBSA 41180), residential building permits, annual 2025 (source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, CBSA annual file cbsa2025a.txt, estimates with imputation; valuation in thousands of dollars per the Census CBSA file documentation; per-unit column is our arithmetic):
| Structure type | Buildings | Units | Valuation ($ thousands) | Valuation per unit (our arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure type 1 unit | Buildings 4,142 | Units 4,142 | Valuation ($ thousands) 1,666,143 | Valuation per unit (our arithmetic) $402,256 |
| Structure type 2 units | Buildings 117 | Units 234 | Valuation ($ thousands) 32,691 | Valuation per unit (our arithmetic) $139,705 |
| Structure type 3 to 4 units | Buildings 44 | Units 167 | Valuation ($ thousands) 32,426 | Valuation per unit (our arithmetic) $194,168 |
| Structure type 5 or more units | Buildings 101 | Units 1,523 | Valuation ($ thousands) 240,180 | Valuation per unit (our arithmetic) $157,702 |
What valuation measures: "the estimated value of the residential structure as shown on the building permit," per the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey definitions. It is a structure estimate, not a sale price, and it excludes land.
Average 5+ building size: 15.1 units per building in 2025, by our arithmetic (1,523 units across 101 buildings).
New two-unit permits: 234 units in 117 buildings across the whole bi-state metro in 2025, per the same Census file.
Home prices: FHFA's All-Transactions House Price Index for the St. Louis, MO-IL metro was 323.47 in Q2 2026, against 319.33 in Q1 2026 and 310.67 in Q2 2025 (1995:Q1=100), per FRED, updated Aug. 25, 2026. By our arithmetic that is up about 4.1% year over year and about 1.3% quarter over quarter.
The metro figures include St. Louis County and the Illinois side, so treat them as a yardstick, not a comp. If your all-in cost per unit approaches the two-unit permit valuation, the deal has to win on location and character, and a 4.1% index gain is not something to bank in an ARV.
How does an illustrative St. Louis two-family rehab size up?
An illustrative brick two-family rehab shows why the lesser of a cost cap and an ARV cap sets your cash, and why the abatement choice decides the exit; every figure below is our arithmetic on assumed inputs plus NerdWallet's example percentages and the 2025 Census permit data.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) purchase: $180,000 for a vacant brick two-family that needs systems in both units.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) rehab budget: $90,000, for a total project cost of $270,000, or $135,000 per unit.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) after-repair value: $360,000, an assumption you would replace with recent sales of renovated two-families nearby.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) cost cap: 80% of $270,000 is $216,000, using the loan-to-cost percentage from NerdWallet's example.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) ARV cap: 70% of $360,000 is $252,000, using the ARV percentage from NerdWallet's example.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) cash in: a lender that applies both caps and funds the lesser lends $216,000, leaving $54,000 of your own money before points, closing costs, carry and any draw you float.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) points: each point on $216,000 is $2,160.
Illustrative (our arithmetic) new-build check: $135,000 all-in per unit against the 2025 Census permit valuation of $139,705 per unit for two-unit structures, a structure-only figure before land.
That $4,705-per-unit gap is thin, which is the point: on century-old brick stock, scope creep, not comps, breaks the deal. If the plan also takes abatement, the refinance or sale has to work on long-term rents or comparable sales alone. A contingency line and a contractual extension at a known fee are worth more here than a slightly lower rate.
How do you get a brick two-family rehab loan placed in St. Louis?
You get a two-family rehab loan placed by sending one lender-ready file, with the scope, budget, abatement decision and exit, to several lender types at once and making each answer points, leverage basis, draws and extension terms in writing, which is the work YieldStack's software and brokers do.
Role: YieldStack is an AI-native commercial mortgage brokerage that arranges financing for commercial real estate investors.
The software finds and compares financing options across 20,000+ loan programs. Human brokers structure the deal, negotiate the points, draw terms and extension terms for the borrower, and carry the transaction toward closing. Every credit decision is made by the lender; YieldStack arranges the introductions and negotiates on the borrower's side, and no loan, rate, or closing is guaranteed.
Have this ready before you ask for terms:
- Purchase contract and scope: the closing date, plus a line-item budget by unit and trade with contractor bids and lead-safe certifications.
- Abatement decision and exit: whether the parcel will take abatement or TIF, and the sale or refinance that follows.
- Comparable sales: recent closed sales of renovated two-families nearby.
- Track record and liquidity: past projects and proof of the cash you will put in.
It costs Zero upfront to submit a deal and review offers; YieldStack's broker fee is 0.50–1.00% of the loan amount and is paid only at closing.
Send your St. Louis two-family rehab for side-by-side terms
For the local market overview, see the St. Louis market page and the statewide Missouri market page.
The bottom line
Finance a St. Louis brick two-family rehab with a business-purpose loan sized on cost and after-repair value, and get points, draws and extension terms in writing from every lender. Decide on abatement before you close, because the city will not grant a short-term rental permit on a parcel actively benefiting from abatement or TIF. Budget the Certificate of Inspection, lead-safe contractors and a real contingency, and treat historic tax credits as later money for a hold, not a source for a flip.