Plumas Bank (SBA lending)
At a Glance
The page every relationship desk should be embarrassed by: the two numbers a buyer actually needs, the injection and the rate structure, stated in writing with the lending map beside them. Across its nine states this is the published-terms quote the others get compared against.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; no fee to engage. The page publishes what the category hides. Business acquisitions run at as little as 15% down on ten-year FIXED rates, real estate at 10% down over 25 years, with 48-to-72-hour prequalification. The 7(a) runs to $5 million fully amortized and assumable and the 504 to $12.5 million with its LTV structure. Nine lending states are enumerated: California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Montana. The FOIA loan file places it fourth in California's change-of-ownership top-five with 157 loans and second in Nevada with 23 across the file's six years.
- Best For
- Buyers across the nine western states it names who want acquisition terms stated before the first call, and a fixed rate where nearly everyone else quotes variable
- Track Record
- Fourth in California's and second in Nevada's change-of-ownership top-fives across the file's six years; $800M funded since 2007 by its own count.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- Nine western states named on its own page: California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Montana. It lends beyond the states it names, so one it does not name is worth asking about rather than ruling out.
- Approval Authority
- Says it holds SBA Preferred Lender status, so it can approve the loan itself rather than sending the file to the agency for a second look.
- 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
- 15% down on acquisitions, which is above the program floor and so a real disclosure rather than a restatement; ten-year fixed rates, 48-72 hour prequalification, nine states named.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Where Its Loans Went
30 of its 47 change-of-ownership loans in the ranked industries went to one: Full-Service Restaurants.
- Full-Service Restaurants30 loans
- General Automotive Repair12 loans
- Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)5 loans
Counts cover FY2020 through FY2025, from the SBA's loan-level file.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- States the acquisition figures outright: as little as 15% down and ten-year fixed rates, which almost no desk publishes
- Enumerates its nine lending states on the page, so reach is never a guess
- 48-to-72-hour prequalification published, with named lending officers a click away
- Fourth in California's and second in Nevada's change-of-ownership top-fives in the FOIA loan file, over $800 million funded since 2007 by its own count
Cons
- Rates are variable on most non-acquisition uses, and no numeric rate is published for any lane
- A small Northern California bank by charter; big-metro service coverage is a fair question for the officer
- The FY2025 pace sits below the league table's cut, so the book leans on earlier years
- No searcher-community footprint to weigh against its own claims
What Searchers Say
The 15% acquisition down payment, ten-year fixed rates, prequalification clock, nine enumerated states, and $800 million funded since 2007 are all its own page's. The FOIA loan file independently places it fourth in California's and second in Nevada's change-of-ownership top-fives across the file's six years.
How to Approach
Plumas 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