Questions, answered plainly

It depends entirely on the product. A merchant cash advance or express business loan can fund the same day or next business day once we have bank statements. Hard money and bridge real estate loans typically close in 7 to 14 days. Conventional term loans run 1 to 3 weeks, and SBA loans take 30 to 75 days because of the government review layer. When you apply, tell us your deadline — it is one of the biggest factors in which product we recommend.

No. Our initial review uses a soft credit pull, which is invisible to other lenders and has no effect on your score. A hard inquiry only happens later, after you have seen real terms in writing and told us you want to move forward with a specific offer.

There is no single cutoff, because we are not a single lender. Revenue-based products such as merchant cash advances and invoice factoring have funded borrowers in the 500s, since they lean on receivables and deposits rather than FICO. Conventional term loans and lines of credit generally want 620+. SBA and the best-priced bank paper want 680+. If your score is the obstacle, we will tell you plainly and show you which programs still work.

Most small business financing requires a personal guarantee from owners holding 20% or more. There are real exceptions — non-recourse business lending, most equipment leases, and many asset-based and real estate facilities where the collateral stands on its own. If avoiding a personal guarantee matters to you, say so up front and we will steer toward those programs.

Nothing to apply, nothing to review offers, and nothing to walk away. Where a fee applies to a specific transaction, it is disclosed in writing in your term sheet before you sign anything. You will never find a charge on your funding that you did not see and agree to first.

That is common and it is not disqualifying. Depending on the balance and position, we can look at a second-position facility, a consolidation that rolls everything into one payment, or a refinance into a longer, cheaper product. Bring your existing agreements to the call — the payoff structure changes what makes sense.

Yes. Keystone arranges financing for businesses and property in all 50 states. A handful of individual programs carry state-level restrictions, and we will flag those immediately if one affects you.

For a fast revenue-based product: a completed application, three to six months of business bank statements, and a voided check. For term loans and lines of credit, add two years of business tax returns and a current P&L and balance sheet. Real estate deals need the purchase contract, a rent roll or pro forma, and a scope of work if renovation is involved. SBA files are the heaviest — we send a full checklist and walk you through it.

Four questions settle it most of the time: how fast do you need it, how long will you need it for, how certain is the amount, and what can you pledge. Fast and short points to advances and lines of credit. Slow and long points to SBA and term loans. A known one-time amount points to a term loan; an unpredictable recurring need points to a line. Available collateral opens up cheaper secured options across the board. Our advisors walk through exactly this on the first call.

Yes, in a narrow set of circumstances — when the return on having money today clearly exceeds the cost of the advance, when credit rules out cheaper products, or when the deadline is measured in hours. It is the most expensive product we place and we say so openly. If your situation can tolerate two more weeks, a term loan or line of credit is almost always the better instrument.

For established businesses, SBA 7(a) and 504 loans, followed by conventional bank term debt. For businesses with property, real-estate-secured lending is usually cheapest of all. For newer businesses with strong personal credit, 0% introductory business credit card lines can genuinely be free money for twelve to eighteen months if repaid inside the promotional window.

Yes, and many of our clients deliberately do — a term loan for the build-out, a line of credit for working capital swings, and equipment financing for hard assets. What you should avoid is stacking multiple daily-debit advances on the same deposit stream, which is how businesses end up in a spiral.

Not with a DSCR loan. Qualification runs on whether the property's rent covers the mortgage payment — no tax returns, no W-2s, no employment verification and no debt-to-income calculation. This is the single most important product for investors whose depreciation and expenses suppress taxable income.

Hard money can close in 72 hours to 10 days when title work starts immediately. Fix and flip loans run 7 to 14 days. DSCR refinances run 21 to 30 days. Conventional commercial and agency multifamily debt runs 30 to 75 days. The bottleneck is almost never the lender — it is title, insurance and entity documentation.

On investment and commercial property, yes, and most of our clients do. DSCR, hard money, bridge and commercial lenders all close in entity name routinely. Conventional owner-occupied residential financing generally requires personal vesting.

That is what fix and flip, rehab and construction products are for. These finance the purchase plus a renovation budget released in inspected draws, and they are sized against the after-repair value rather than the current condition. Conventional lenders decline these properties on condition alone.

A broker — more precisely, a commercial finance intermediary. We do not lend our own capital. We structure and package your file and place it with the banks, funds and private capital sources whose criteria actually match your profile. That is why we can offer 92 programs instead of one.

An advisor reviews your file and calls you, usually within one business day and often within the hour. They confirm details, tell you which programs you realistically qualify for, and request only the documents those specific lenders need. You then review real term sheets and decide. A hard credit inquiry only occurs once you tell us to proceed with a specific offer.

No. We place your file with the specific lenders considering it and nowhere else. We do not sell your information to lead aggregators or marketing lists. This is the difference between a broker and a lead generator, and it is worth asking any funding company you speak to.

You get told why, in plain terms, along with what would need to change. Often the answer is a different product rather than no product at all. Where the honest answer is that the file needs sixty or ninety days of work first, we will say that and tell you exactly what to do in the meantime — that conversation is free and there is no obligation to come back.