Raw land is the hardest thing in this market to refinance, and the reason is structural rather than a matter of appetite. Land produces no income, so there is no net operating income to divide by the debt service and no coverage ratio to underwrite. Every other property type in this record is judged on what it earns; land can only be judged on what it is worth and what you intend to do with it.
No income means no coverage ratio
The whole apparatus of commercial underwriting, the debt service coverage figures the firms in this record publish at 1.20 and 1.25, assumes a property that earns. Land does not, so a land lender falls back on the value, your other income and the plan. That is a weaker file by construction, and it is why land carries lower leverage and shorter terms than anything else here.
What leverage to expect, and what nobody publishes
No firm in this record publishes a land refinance requirement. Land generally sits well below the 75% median maximum the commercial rows here carry, because a lender holding land through a default has an asset with no cash flow and a slow sale ahead of it. Expect a shorter term and a balloon rather than long amortisation, and expect the lender to care a great deal about the road, the utilities and the zoning.
Who actually lends on it
Farm Credit associations for agricultural land, community banks and credit unions locally, and specialist land lenders nationally. Very few of the national commercial lenders in this record will look at raw land at all, which is a fact about the asset rather than about the borrower.
Questions people ask about land loan refinance
Can you refinance raw land?
Yes, but it is the hardest property type here. Land earns nothing, so there is no coverage ratio to underwrite and lenders fall back on value, your other income and your plan.
What LTV can I get on land?
No firm in this record publishes one. Expect materially less than the 75% median maximum the commercial rows carry, with a shorter term and usually a balloon.
Who refinances land?
Farm Credit associations for agricultural land, community banks and credit unions locally, and specialist land lenders. Most national commercial lenders will not.