→ Free tool
Commercial Real Estate Loan Calculator
Commercial mortgages don't work like a home loan — the payment is stretched over decades, but the loan comes due years earlier. Enter your amount, rate, amortization, and term to see the monthly payment and the balloon balance you'll owe at maturity.
Start from a template
→ Your commercial loan
A $797,175 balloon comes due at year 10
Because the payment amortizes over 25 years but the loan matures in 10, you pay down only part of the principal — the rest is due as a lump sum. Most borrowers refinance or sell before the balloon hits. Plan for it: a balloon you can't refinance is how good properties get lost.
Compare scenarios
Save the current inputs as a scenario, then compare best, base, and worst side by side. Saved in this browser.
Add this calculator to your website
Free to embed. Copy the code below — it includes a link back to Planypals.
<iframe src="https://planypals.com/embed/commercial-real-estate-loan-calculator" title="Commercial Real Estate Loan Calculator" width="100%" height="760" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #ddd3bf;max-width:760px"></iframe> <p style="font:13px/1.5 sans-serif">Free <a href="https://planypals.com/tools/commercial-real-estate-loan-calculator">Commercial Real Estate Loan Calculator by Planypals</a></p>
Download these results as a PDF report
Get a clean PDF of the payment, balloon, and balance schedule — useful for a financing package.
No spam. We'll send occasional founder resources and you can unsubscribe anytime.
An estimate for planning, not a loan offer. Commercial terms, fees, and structures vary widely by lender and property.
Amortization vs. term: the balloon trap
The defining feature of a commercial mortgage is that two different clocks run at once. The amortization period — usually 20 to 25 years — sets the size of your monthly payment. The term— often 5 to 10 years — sets when the loan actually comes due. Because the payment was sized to pay the loan off slowly, most of the principal is still outstanding when the term ends, and that remaining balance is the balloon. It falls due all at once, and it's almost always far larger than a year of payments.
How the numbers come together
The calculator amortizes the payment over the long schedule, then rolls the balance forward to the end of the shorter term to find the balloon. A $1,000,000 loan at 7.5% on a 25-year amortization runs about $7,390 a month — but if the term is 10 years, roughly $797,000 is still owed as a balloon at year ten, because a decade of those payments covered mostly interest. Shorten the amortization and the payment rises but the balloon shrinks; lengthen it and the reverse.
Planning for the balloon
A balloon isn't a flaw — it's how the market keeps rates and terms flexible — but it is a deadline. Most owners refinance into a new loan or sell the property before maturity. The risk is being forced to refinance into higher rates, or being unable to refinance at all if the property's value or income has slipped. Underwrite the exit the day you sign: know what the balloon will be, and have a credible plan to clear it well before it arrives.
What a lender checks first
Commercial lenders underwrite the building, not your paycheck. They size the loan so the property's income covers the payment with a margin — a debt service coverage ratio of about 1.20–1.25× — and cap it at a loan-to-value ceiling. Before you apply, pressure-test both: run the property's yield through the cap rate calculator and its coverage through the DSCR calculator.
→ Beyond the calculator
Build the financing package lenders fund
A payment schedule is one page of a commercial loan file. Our real estate business plan writers assemble the projections, rent roll, market analysis, and use of funds a commercial lender expects.
Frequently asked questions
- Two ways matter most. First, commercial loans usually carry a balloon: the payment is calculated on a long amortization (often 20–25 years) but the loan matures much sooner (5–10 years), leaving a lump sum due. Second, rates are generally higher and terms shorter, and lenders underwrite the property's income (via DSCR) rather than a household's salary.
- It's the remaining loan balance owed when a commercial loan matures before it's fully amortized. Because your payments were sized for a 25-year payoff but the loan is due in, say, 10, most of the principal is still outstanding at maturity. Borrowers typically refinance or sell before the balloon comes due — planning for it is essential.
- Commonly 20–35% for investment property, though owner-occupied purchases through SBA 504 or 7(a) can go as low as 10%. The loan amount in this calculator is the financed portion — the price minus your down payment.
- Chiefly on the property's cash flow. Lenders size the loan so the net operating income covers the payment with a cushion — a debt service coverage ratio of at least 1.20–1.25× — and cap the loan at a loan-to-value ratio (often 65–80%). Check both with our DSCR and cap rate calculators before you apply.
- Yes — it runs in your browser, nothing is stored, and there's no sign-up. When you need a financing package a commercial lender will fund, our real estate business plan writers build the projections, rent roll, and use-of-funds that go with it.