We provide lender-ready capital raise packaging and debt or equity placement support for business owners and buyers looking to secure serious term sheets and close funding on a defined timeline.
For business owners and acquirers pursuing private debt or equity, submit your deal for review. We revert within one working day with next steps and either a quote for our services.
For pre-submission discussions, we offer paid consultations. To initiate underwriting and lender outreach, submit the deal.
Acquisition Finance And Commercial Real Estate
“No money down” is popular because it sells hope. It is also a poor use of a serious buyer’s time. In real credit markets, transactions close when risk is covered and incentives are aligned. That requires equity, collateral, verifiable cash flow, or a third-party credit support mechanism with enforceable terms.
This post explains why 100 percent financing claims routinely fail, how underwriting actually works in business acquisitions and commercial real estate, and what credible alternatives look like. It is written for operators, independent sponsors, and buyers who want outcomes measured in closings, not in course certificates.
If you want a structured decisioning process, see How It Works and submit through Submit Your Deal.
“No money down” typically means the buyer is not contributing meaningful equity at closing. In practice, that leaves only a few possibilities: the seller is funding the purchase price, the asset is over-collateralized and can support full leverage under conservative underwriting, or a third-party guarantor is providing credible support that substitutes for equity. Outside of those specific cases, the concept is marketing language, not a financeable structure.
If someone sells you a universal method for buying businesses or commercial property with zero capital, treat it as an indicator that they are optimizing for course revenue, not transaction execution.
Lenders do not finance dreams. They finance repayment sources and enforceable remedies. In both business acquisitions and commercial real estate, lenders are exposed to operational, market, and execution risks that equity is designed to absorb. Equity is the loss buffer, the alignment mechanism, and the proof that the sponsor can carry the downside.
In acquisition lending, the lender underwrites cash flow stability, customer concentration, working capital needs, management depth, and durability of EBITDA. Even when cash flow looks strong, lenders still require sponsor equity to cover volatility, integration risk, and covenant headroom.
In commercial real estate, the lender underwrites the property’s income, tenant quality, lease rollover, and valuation basis. Full leverage is constrained by debt yield, DSCR, and exit liquidity. Equity absorbs capex surprises, vacancy risk, and refinancing risk.
Underwriting principle: if you are not contributing equity, the transaction must demonstrate an alternative coverage mechanism that is stronger than equity. That is uncommon, and it is never casual.
The repeated pattern is consistent across markets: the pitch focuses on tactics, not on credit. It highlights exceptional anecdotes while ignoring the conditional structure that made those anecdotes possible. The audience is sold a method that cannot be replicated at scale because it is not anchored to lender criteria or seller incentives.
| Claim You Hear | What It Omits | What A Real Buyer Asks |
|---|---|---|
| “You can buy with no money down” | Who absorbs downside risk and funds working capital | What is the loss buffer, and who is contractually on the hook? |
| “Banks fund 100% if you negotiate right” | Debt is sized to cash flow and collateral, not to confidence | What DSCR and debt yield does the deal support under stress? |
| “Seller financing solves everything” | Sellers want certainty, security, and credible buyers | Why would a seller become my bank without meaningful protection? |
| “Just use other people’s money” | Equity investors require governance, proof, and alignment | What is my value-add, and why will capital trust my execution? |
| “No-doc, fast approvals” | Institutional credit requires diligence and compliance | Where is the lender-grade package and documented exit plan? |
There are legitimate structures that reduce the buyer’s cash at close. They are not magical. They are engineered. They depend on a strong asset, strong documentation, and risk being carried by someone who is compensated for it.
In business acquisitions, seller rollover equity or subordinated seller notes can reduce the equity check. This is common when the seller wants upside and believes in continuity. It still requires a credible buyer and a financeable core structure.
In commercial property deals, preferred equity can fill an equity gap while preserving senior lender comfort. It is not free capital. It is expensive and it comes with control rights and covenants.
Earnouts can bridge valuation gaps when performance is measurable and enforceable. They reduce cash at close but increase complexity, disputes, and governance burden.
Asset based revolvers can reduce the amount of equity needed for post-close liquidity by financing receivables and inventory. They do not replace purchase equity. They address liquidity and cash conversion.
Serious buyers and independent sponsors treat acquisitions as structured debt and governance exercises. They focus on predictable execution and repeatability. That starts with capital discipline and a lender-grade process.
Practical approach: build a capital stack that is credible, conservative, and executable. Then negotiate purchase economics within the limits of that stack. If you reverse the sequence, you waste months.
Financely is structured around transaction-led lender decisioning. We work with sponsors and buyers who can supply real documents and operate inside a disciplined underwriting process. We do not sell theories. We build lender-grade files, design risk controls, and run structured outreach to matched capital providers. The output is term sheets or written declines with reasons, then execution under definitive documentation.
If you are evaluating acquisition financing, start with How It Works and review What We Do. When you are ready, submit through Submit Your Deal.
Financely supports structured debt and acquisition finance for business buyers and commercial real estate acquirers. We build the lender-grade package, align the credit narrative to market underwriting, and route mandates to matched lenders. Where execution requires licensing, we coordinate execution through appropriately licensed partners under their approvals.
If you have a real target or a real PSA, submit the materials along with your purchase price, timeline, and equity plan. We will revert with feasibility, a document checklist, and a decisioning path sized to your closing window.
It can occur in narrow scenarios, usually involving a seller note that is meaningfully secured and subordinated, combined with strong cash flow and sponsor credibility. Even then, buyers typically need liquidity for working capital, fees, and post-close stabilization. Treat universal 100 percent claims as non-market.
In normal credit markets, senior debt rarely covers 100 percent of total basis. If a structure appears to, it usually includes additional risk capital, cross-collateral, guarantees, or pricing that reflects the risk. Equity is the standard loss buffer.
They convert a complex discipline into a simple narrative and create a high volume funnel for course sales. The narrative is easier to sell than the operational reality of diligence, underwriting, and governance.
Seller rollover equity, seller notes with enforceable terms, preferred equity, and carefully structured earnouts can reduce cash at close. These are negotiated risk allocations. They require serious documentation, real counterparties, and lender acceptance.
A target profile, TTM financials, purchase economics, sources and uses, working capital narrative, customer concentration, and a credible equity plan. If you cannot produce these inputs, you are not ready for lender decisioning.
We build a lender-grade package, match the mandate to lenders whose underwriting box fits the deal, and run a controlled decisioning process to term sheets or written declines with reasons. Start with How It Works and submit via Submit Your Deal.
If you want to buy businesses or commercial property, treat capital like a real constraint. Equity, controls, and credible underwriting inputs are not optional. They are the difference between a closing and a long loop of wasted conversations.
Financely advises growth-focused businesses on accessing capital by introducing their opportunities to professional investors. Financely is not a securities broker or dealer. Where appropriate, engagements are coordinated with regulated broker-dealers, investment banks, legal counsel, and other specialists.
Financely does not solicit, offer, or accept orders to buy or sell securities and makes no assurance regarding capital-raising outcomes.
Services are strictly business-to-business. Financely does not provide personal finance, consumer credit, or retail advisory services.
Advisory services are reserved for post-revenue companies that recognize the time and resources required for professional underwriting.
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All mandates start with an RFQ. We review submissions, issue a brief Go/No-Go memo, and where bankable, release a Term Sheet that leads to funding. We arrange capital across Senior Secured, Unitranche, Second Lien/Mezzanine, Preferred Equity, and Gap Solutions. We do not process deals by email or chat.
Letters of Credit, Standby LCs, Confirmations, Receivables Finance, and Inventory Lines with control.
Funding arranged for trade flows with instruments sized to your cycle and aligned to delivery and settlement.
Move forward to secure working capital and keep goods moving. Submit the RFQ to start underwriting for funding.
Limited or non-recourse structures for energy and infrastructure with lender-ready materials.
Funding solutions aligned to project cash flows with credible covenants and conditions to reach notice to proceed.
Advance the file to termable status. Submit the RFQ so we can underwrite and secure funding.
Debt and Preferred solutions anchored on cash flow, Quality of Earnings, and clear closing mechanics.
Funding across senior, unitranche, and preferred to match stable cash flows and acquisition timelines.
Get financed on workable terms for closing. Submit the RFQ to start underwriting.
Acquisition, development, bridge, and refinance with lender-ready packs and third-party reports managed.
Funding calibrated to DSCR, leverage, and tenancy with terms designed to close.
Move to a financeable package. Submit the RFQ to initiate underwriting for funding.
KYC and Source of Funds required. Engagements are best-efforts and subject to underwriting. Preference for operating companies with meaningful revenue. See our FAQ and Procedure.
Financely Inc. (“Financely”) provides corporate-finance advice and is wholly owned by Aurora Bay Trust, a trust formed under Bahamian law, together with its authorized affiliates. Depending on deal structure, jurisdiction, and local rules, engagements may be carried out through Financely Group LLC, a non-deposit-taking, non-banking financial company; Ashford Capital Advisory LLC; or another related entity.
Financely and its affiliates are not registered as securities broker-dealers and do not execute securities transactions or hold client funds or securities. When a mandate involves the purchase or sale of securities and a registered intermediary is required, any orders are introduced to and executed by one or more independent U.S. broker-dealers registered with the SEC and FINRA. Those broker-dealers are solely responsible for trade execution, custody, and related regulatory obligations. Nothing in this material constitutes an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any security or to engage in any specific transaction. Before engaging Financely Group LLC, Ashford Capital Advisory LLC, or any affiliate, you are responsible for confirming that such engagement complies with your own legal, regulatory, tax, and other requirements. In the United States, certain advisory activities may be conducted in reliance on exemptions available under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, including the “foreign private adviser” exemption where applicable. Our services and regulatory status may vary by jurisdiction and by transaction type.
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