Senior living is a labour business inside a real-estate shell. Occupancy matters, but staffing cost, acuity mix and licensure determine whether an occupied building actually produces the margin the projections show. Lenders know this, and their diligence is correspondingly operational.
| Route | Where it fits | What it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) | Acquisition, working capital, equipment and some construction; the most flexible federal route for an operating business. | Size standards, owner-occupancy and repayment ability from the business itself. |
| SBA 504 | Owner-occupied real estate and long-lived equipment, in a bank plus CDC debenture structure. | Eligible fixed assets and the borrower contribution rules, which rise for a new business or a special-purpose property. |
| USDA OneRD / B&I | Projects in eligible rural areas, where the guarantee helps a lender hold a longer term. | Rural eligibility, tangible balance-sheet equity of 10 to 25 percent under 7 CFR 5001.105(d), and a feasibility study above $1,000,000 for a new business. |
| USDA Community Facilities | Non-profit and public sponsors developing essential community facilities in eligible rural areas. | Applicant type, population and income thresholds that set the graduated grant percentage under 7 CFR 3570.63, and demonstrated need. |
| Conventional bank or credit union | Experienced sponsors with strong balance sheets, and projects too large for the federal ceilings. | Coverage, leverage, sponsor liquidity and the appraised value of the collateral. |
| Construction and expansion | Ground-up communities, memory care additions and unit conversions. | Lease-up pace, pre-opening staffing burn, and the interest reserve carrying both. |
Two assumptions carry most of the risk in a senior living projection. The first is the lease-up curve: units per month, from a standing start, against the competitive set’s absorption history. The second is wage cost, including agency staffing during the ramp. A model that fills the building in a year at budgeted wages will produce a coverage ratio no lender believes.
Where the sponsor is a non-profit or public body in a rural area, Community Facilities financing can pair a graduated grant with a loan — but the programme is built around essential community facilities and demonstrated need, so the market analysis has to answer a public-need question as well as a commercial one.
Our senior living work is described at assisted living and senior care feasibility studies.
Last reviewed September 2026. Programme figures are quoted from the sources below; everything else is professional commentary.
Independent demand, competitive and lease-up analysis. Fixed fee quoted in one business day.
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Wert-Berater, Inc. is an independent provider of feasibility studies and other related services. The firm does not provide financing or equity investment advice, and does not arrange, broker, or place debt or equity capital of any kind.
All appraisal assignments are performed by Bruce E. Jones, MAI, ASA-GC, BCA, CMEA, a member of the Appraisal Institute since 2006, a staff member of Wert-Berater, Inc. and owner of Special Purpose Realty Valuation.