Columbus apartment demand leans on Fort Benning, Columbus State University, and a steady employment base in insurance, payments, and healthcare. A lot of the stock that serves it is older and needs work. Stabilized buildings are sized on the rent roll. A vacant building usually starts with a bridge loan, then refinances once it is leased.
Talk through a propertyA large share of Columbus apartment deals are value-add. Investors buy older buildings in South Columbus and along corridors like Fort Benning Road and Victory Drive with heavy vacancy or deferred maintenance, renovate them, and lease them up. That usually means financing in two steps: a short-term bridge loan to buy and renovate, then permanent financing once the building is occupied and producing income.
Military tenants bring steady demand but predictable turnover, since leases start and end around reassignment cycles. Lenders look at occupancy over several months rather than a single snapshot, so a clean leasing history helps more than a strong month.
Across the Chattahoochee, Phenix City, Alabama is part of the same rental market, and Capituro closes in Alabama as well.
8 to 40 unit buildings, many built in the 1960s and 1970s, that serve military families and local workforce tenants. Stabilized buildings fit Apartment DSCR or Interest-Only Apartment Loans. Buildings with heavy vacancy usually start with a bridge loan.
Older buildings bought below as-is value, with a renovation budget and a lease-up plan. The first loan is usually bridge. Permanent debt comes after the building is occupied and the rent roll supports it. Cash out is the step after the renovation is in, not before.
Older buildings along Broadway and the downtown blocks with retail below and apartments above. Commercial-led buildings route to Commercial DSCR. Residential-led buildings stay on apartment programs by legal unit count.
Capituro also closes full-documentation loans in Georgia on bank and credit union terms, underwritten on your full financials with depreciation and cost segregation losses added back to cash flow. Typical structure is a 5 year fixed term on a 20 to 30 year amortization with a personal guaranty. For Columbus investors who have finished a renovation and have a year of clean operating history, this is often the lowest-cost permanent option.
Small apartment buildings with stabilized occupancy.
Program detailsGarden apartments refinanced on rent roll and T-12.
Program detailsEquity after a renovation and lease-up.
Program detailsBuying and renovating buildings with heavy vacancy before permanent financing.
Program detailsPermanent programs have occupancy minimums, and vacant buildings are harder and more expensive to insure. A building that is mostly empty will usually need bridge first.
Older vacant buildings in parts of Columbus can carry damage that has to be scoped carefully. A clear rehab budget and contractor bid make the bridge approval much easier.
Lenders want the renovated value backed by comparable sales or, on 5+ units, by projected income. Pull comps before you commit to a purchase price.
A 19 unit apartment building in South Columbus was largely vacant after squatter damage and was under contract below its as-is value, with a renovation budget of roughly $140,000 and an after-repair value well above the purchase price.
The structure was a 12 month bridge loan covering the purchase and renovation. Cash to close was the sticking point, so seller concessions were explored to bring it down. The plan was to renovate, lease up, and refinance into permanent financing once the building was producing income.
