Property type
Land loans, matched to your deal
A land loan finances ground rather than a building, which means there is no income to underwrite and the lender is lending against a plan. Entitlement status does most of the work in determining terms: raw acreage with no approvals, land with entitlements in hand, and finished lots ready to build are three genuinely different risks, and the set of programs willing to lend narrows considerably at the raw end.
- 5,000+loan programs screened
- 5–8matches on a typical deal
- $0 upfrontto submit and compare offers
- 0.50–1.00%broker fee, paid only at closing
Who is a land loan actually for?
Developers and investors acquiring ground ahead of building, whether that is raw acreage bought on a long view, a parcel moving through entitlement, or finished lots being held for a build programme. It also covers horizontal development, where the loan funds roads, utilities and grading that turn land into buildable sites before any vertical construction starts.
What do land lenders disagree about?
How much credit to give an entitlement that has not been granted yet. Programs differ on whether they will lend at all before approvals, on how they treat a parcel partway through the process, and on how they value finished lots against an absorption assumption. Because there is no income, the sponsor and the exit carry more weight here than in almost any other asset class.
How does getting matched actually work?
You describe the deal once — about five minutes — and it is screened against 5,000+ loan programs. Most deals return 5–8 matches, and the median first offer arrives in under an hour. There is $0 upfront; the fee is 0.50–1.00%, paid only at closing.
YieldStack is a commercial mortgage brokerage, not a lender. The rate, the leverage and the credit decision belong to the lenders competing for your deal; our job is making sure the right ones see it at the same time, so the terms you compare are real competition rather than one desk’s appetite.
What do lenders actually look at?
Every program weighs these in its own way — which is the argument for several quoting at once.
- Entitlement status, and what approvals remain outstanding
- Zoning, access and utility availability at the parcel
- The development plan and the timeline behind it
- Sponsor track record taking comparable land through to delivery
- The exit, whether that is a build, a lot sale or a longer hold
Frequently Asked Questions
Can raw land be financed?
Yes, but by a much narrower set of programs than entitled land or finished lots, and the terms reflect that there is no income and no approval in hand.
Does entitlement change the terms much?
More than almost any other factor. Approvals convert a speculative parcel into a defined development opportunity, and the programs available change accordingly.
What is a horizontal development loan?
Financing for the infrastructure phase, meaning grading, roads and utilities that make land buildable. It sits between land acquisition and vertical construction and fewer lenders offer it.
Can a land loan roll into construction?
Some programs are structured to do exactly that, others expect a separate construction facility once the build starts. Knowing which applies matters before the land closes.
Do lenders finance agricultural land?
Some do, though it is usually a distinct program from development land because the use, the income and the exit all look different.
What matters most on a land file?
The exit. With no income to test, lenders concentrate on whether the plan is deliverable and whether the sponsor has delivered something comparable before.
Is YieldStack a lender?
No. YieldStack is a commercial mortgage brokerage, not a lender. Every term sheet comes from a lender in the network and is subject to that lender's underwriting.
Does it cost anything to see terms?
No. It costs $0 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.
Is financing guaranteed?
No. 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.
Next step
One deal.Several lenders.
YieldStack is a commercial mortgage brokerage, not a lender.