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Applying for an SBA 504 Loan

It takes four details to find out whether you qualify. The paperwork comes later, in stages, and you never assemble it alone. Most people should leave this page after the first box.

What you need to get started: nothing

No documents, no credit pull. What actually happens on the first call, in half a minute.

NSDC explainer film.

Start here

Four details. That's the whole first step.

Free. No commitment. A loan officer replies, not a form letter.

What happens, in four stages

  1. Prequalification

    The four details above and a short conversation. Fast, and it costs nothing. You'll know whether the deal fits before you gather a single document.

  2. Application

    The guided intake. Around twenty plain-English questions, and NSDC generates the completed SBA forms from your answers. You check; you don't retype. This is the stage that needs your tax returns and financials.

  3. Underwriting and SBA authorization

    NSDC underwrites and, as a Premier Certified Lender, approves in-house. Appraisal and environmental review run alongside. Follow-up requests are usually small.

  4. Closing

    Insurance, entity documents, and the closing package, walked through with your loan officer. Most of our loans close within 45 days.

The guided application

The old way was a stack of forms that asked for the same facts a dozen times each. The new way asks once. You answer about twenty questions in plain English, upload the documents you already have, and NSDC fills in what it can from them. Then you review a completed package rather than building one.

Coming with the borrower dashboard

The guided intake, upload-and-extract, save-and-resume, and a completeness check that flags a missing tax year or a stale interim statement before it costs you a week. Until it ships, your loan officer does the same job by hand, and the checklist below is what they'll ask for.

What you'll need, and when

Grouped by stage, so you're never handed the whole list at once.

At prequalification

  • Project size, property type, city, and years in business. Nothing else.

At application: the business

  • Business federal tax returns, the last three years
  • Current profit and loss statement and balance sheet, no older than 90 days
  • Business debt schedule, tying to the balance sheet
  • Business license and formation documents
  • For a newer business: projections, with the reasoning behind them

At application: each owner of 20% or more

  • Personal federal tax returns, the last three years
  • Personal financial statement (SBA Form 413, current version 05-24, expires 08/31/2027; we provide the form)
  • A brief resume or business history

At application: the property

  • Purchase agreement or letter of intent
  • For construction: plans, contractor bids, and a cost breakdown
  • For a refinance: the existing note, current statement, and payment history

Affiliates

  • If an owner holds 20% or more of another business, that business's most recent tax return and current financials

At closing

  • Insurance binders, entity resolutions, and the closing package your officer walks you through

Download the forms

For anyone who'd rather see them now. Your loan officer sends the current NSDC forms when you start; the federal form is public and linked below.

FormVersionWho completes it
NSDC 504 loan applicationSent by your loan officerThe business
SBA Form 413, Personal Financial Statementcurrent version 05-24, expires 08/31/2027Each owner of 20% or more
Business debt scheduleSent by your loan officerThe business
Personal history / resumeSent by your loan officerEach owner

Every form on this page is checked monthly against the SBA's document library. A superseded federal form is replaced before it can be downloaded.

Questions

Do I need all of this to start?
No. Four details start it. The documents come at the application stage, and your loan officer tells you which ones your deal actually needs.
How long does it take?
Prequalification is fast. Most NSDC loans close within 45 days of a complete application.
Can I apply before I've found a property?
You can prequalify before you have a property, and we'd encourage it: you'll shop knowing your number. The full application needs a purchase agreement or letter of intent.
Who sees my personal financial statement?
Your NSDC loan officer and underwriter, and the SBA as part of authorization. It's submitted through our secure upload, not by email, and never shared with third parties beyond the deal.
What if I've been turned down before?
Worth another conversation. A different structure, a different property, or another year of operating history changes the answer more often than people expect.

This page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Loan terms and eligibility are subject to SBA guidelines and underwriting.

The first step costs you nothing. It's a conversation.

Start with four details

Four details, no credit pull. A loan officer in Reno or Las Vegas reads them and calls you. Pre-qualification within three business days.

  • Free
  • No credit pull
  • No documents to start
  • A named officer replies

We love owning this because we're in charge of our destiny. Full Tilt Logistics, NSDC borrower · 2,350+ loans since 1981