Open Bank (SBA lending)
At a Glance
The strongest of the community desks reviewed today: a cheap, deep, big-check book with structures shown in public, so the first conversation starts from an example instead of a promise. If the deal sits near its branches, this is the quote to make the published-terms desks beat.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; no fee to engage. The page publishes no rate sheet but something rarer: a dozen worked 7(a) examples with dollar figures and structures, 90% of purchase price financed in several and 100% in one on vested equity, to the $5M program maximum. The FOIA loan file shows 68 change-of-ownership loans totaling $125.7M in FY2025 at a $1.85M average, 380 such loans across six years, and a 7.80% average initial rate, seventh cheapest among the twenty-five most active.
- Best For
- Buyers in California, Texas, Nevada, or Washington with larger deals who want a desk that shows its structures before the first meeting
- In the Federal File
- 68 change-of-ownership loans in FY2025, 18th most in the country, averaging $1.8M each, at an average initial rate of 7.8%. Computed from the SBA's own loan-level data, not from anything the lender publishes.
- Track Record
- 380 change-of-ownership loans across six years at the file's seventh-cheapest average rate, 7.80%.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- Twelve branches across California, Texas, and Nevada, with Washington loan production offices, per its holding company's profile. It lends beyond the states it names, so one it does not name is worth asking about rather than ruling out.
- Approval Authority
- Claims no Preferred Lender status on its own pages, so plan on the agency reading the file after the bank does.
- An award rather than a delegation: the bank was named a national small-business lender of the year. The site is thin enough that the whole of it was read.
- Deal Size
- $500k to $5M.
- Publishes no floor. Most of this shelf gives a ceiling that is really the agency's own cap, and no minimum at all.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- Published Terms
- No rate sheet, but worked 7(a) examples with real figures: 90% of purchase price financed repeatedly, to the $5M maximum.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Where Its Loans Went
296 change-of-ownership loans across 6 of the industries the loan file ranks, the largest being Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels at 96.
- Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels96 loans
- Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers85 loans
- Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores69 loans
- Supermarkets and Other Grocery Retailers (except Convenience Retailers)23 loans
- Car Washes12 loans
- Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners11 loans
Counts cover FY2020 through FY2025, from the SBA's loan-level file.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Worked deal examples with real dollar figures on its own page, which is rarer than a rate sheet in this category
- The seventh-cheapest average initial rate among the FOIA loan file's twenty-five most active, at 7.80%
- A $1.85M FY2025 average and a 380-loan six-year book: big checks from a desk that has been doing this for years
- Names itself an SBA National Small Business Lender of the Year, and the volume in the FOIA loan file is consistent with a flagship desk
Cons
- Twelve branches in three states plus two Washington loan offices; the relationship model thins beyond them
- No published rates or terms despite the worked examples; the structure you see is not a quote
- The worked examples lean real-estate-heavy, so a goodwill-heavy business purchase should ask to see its shape early
- No searcher-community footprint to weigh against its own claims
What Searchers Say
The examples and the Lender of the Year claim are its own page's. The footprint is its holding company's investor profile verbatim: twelve branches across Los Angeles, Orange, and Santa Clara Counties in California, Carrollton in Texas, and Las Vegas in Nevada, plus loan production offices in Lynnwood and Bellevue, Washington. Operating since 2005, renamed Open Bank in 2010. The FOIA loan file independently prices the book seventh cheapest of the twenty-five most active.
How to Approach
Open Bank (SBA lending) is a bank, so this is how that kind of lender comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A prequalification on you and the target, often from the first email.
- A full application and the bank's own underwrite of the deal.
- A term sheet, then closing on the SBA's timeline, commonly two to four months.
What It Weighs
- Whether the business's cash flow covers the debt with room to spare.
- Your experience relative to the business you are buying.
- Your equity injection and how clean the financials are.
How to Prepare
- Model the payment and coverage before you call. SBA Acquisition Calculator
- Underwrite the specific deal end to end. Underwrite a Deal
- Show where every dollar comes from and goes. Sources & Uses Builder