Tennessee spent the last decade pulling in people, jobs, and a lot of new apartment buildings, and Nashville owners have spent the last two years watching all of that supply get absorbed. We review apartment, multifamily, and commercial loans across the state, with interest-only and cash out options for owners who want their building working harder.
Apartment and commercial loans from $1 million to $30 million+
Tennessee has no state income tax on wages, and for years that, along with steady job growth, has pulled people in from all over the country. Nashville got the headlines, and developers answered with one of the biggest apartment building waves in the Southeast. For a stretch, new buildings were opening faster than the city could fill them, and owners all over the metro felt the competition.
That wave is now cresting. Construction starts in Nashville have pulled back sharply in 2026, and the metro is still adding jobs faster than the country as a whole. For an owner, that matters. The buildings that held occupancy while the new supply leased up are the ones in the strongest position to refinance, pull cash out, or move to interest-only payments as the market tightens.
Capituro reviews loan requests for Tennessee apartment buildings, multifamily portfolios, and commercial property, along with high-value cabin rentals in the Smoky Mountains. We spend our time on the property and on what the owner wants the loan to do.
Capituro helps investors close business-purpose financing on multifamily and commercial property. Programs are not available for owner-occupied residential property. Terms and availability vary by deal and can change without notice.
None of these are deal killers. They are the Tennessee details we would rather talk through at the start than discover halfway in.
Tennessee has no income tax on wages, but it makes up for some of that with property tax. The state constitution classifies any residential building with two or more rental units as commercial property, assessed at a higher rate than a home. On an apartment building, the tax bill is one of the biggest lines on the operating statement, so we always start with the current one and any recent reappraisal.
In Nashville especially, newer buildings have been offering free rent to win tenants, and older buildings have had to keep up. The rent that counts is the rent tenants actually pay after concessions, so that is the number we start with.
Nashville stopped issuing new non-owner-occupied short-term rental permits in many of its multifamily zones, and existing permits do not transfer when a property sells. In the Smoky Mountains, the rules change from Gatlinburg to the unincorporated county. A valid permit in the right place is part of what the property is worth, so it is one of the first things we ask about.
Have a Tennessee building in mind?
Send the numbersA Tennessee apartment building can need different debt at different points in its life. A bridge loan can carry a property through lease-up or a renovation, and a long-term apartment loan can take over once it is stabilized. When that is the plan, we look at both steps together from the start.
Interest-only payments for up to the full term on a stabilized apartment building, often with more cash out than an amortizing loan allows.
Read program detailsLong-term financing for Tennessee apartment buildings from 5 units to 300+, from a garden community in Memphis to a newer mid-rise in Nashville.
Read program detailsFor owners who want to put the equity in a stabilized apartment or commercial building to work, up to 75% LTV on a refinance.
Read program detailsFor retail, office, warehouse, self storage, mixed use, daycare, automotive, light industrial, and assisted living property where the leases and occupancy support a purchase, refinance, or cash out.
Read program detailsFor a building in transition, whether that means lease-up, renovation, burning off concessions, or a purchase that needs to close before long-term financing makes sense.
Read program detailsFor houses, duplexes, and other 1 to 4 unit rentals in Tennessee, including high-value homes in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and the rest of Sevier County, where the rental income supports the loan and the right permit is in place.
Read program detailsWe also review 1 to 4 unit rentals across Tennessee.
See DSCR loansNashville built more apartments over the last few years than almost anyone expected, and the concessions showed it. The jobs kept coming the whole time, from health care to corporate offices to a new stadium on the East Bank. As the building pipeline thins out, the buildings that held their tenants through the rush are where refinances are coming together first.
Memphis runs on a different engine. FedEx is headquartered here, and the city's role as a freight and distribution hub keeps a steady base of workers renting. Much of the apartment stock is older garden communities that have housed the same neighborhoods for decades, and well-run ones tend to throw off real cash flow.
Knoxville has the University of Tennessee's flagship campus and a growing medical and research base, and Chattanooga has rebuilt its riverfront downtown and anchored a manufacturing base with the Volkswagen plant. Both cities have their own apartment markets with less of Nashville's supply pressure.
Clarksville sits next to Fort Campbell, home of the 101st Airborne Division, which keeps a steady stream of military families looking for rentals. In the east, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville draw visitors to the Smokies year round, and large cabin rentals there can be some of the highest-earning homes in the state.
We review deals across all of Tennessee, including cities not listed here.
The owner bought or built a few years ago, kept the building full while the new supply leased up, and the current loan is amortizing away cash flow the owner would rather have. An interest-only loan with cash out can change how the building pays, without selling it.
An older complex with a loyal tenant base, a few deferred projects the owner wants to finish, and more equity than the current loan reflects. A cash out refinance can fund the work and still leave the building on solid footing, and we would rather look at the plan for the money alongside the numbers.
A large Sevier County cabin that books out for holidays, summer, and the fall leaf season, with a permit in place and a few years of monthly history. These properties earn on a calendar of their own, so we look at the year month by month instead of as one blended number.
You do not need a polished package to start. A few lines through the contact form with the address, the unit count, and what you want the loan to do is enough for us to tell you whether it is worth a real conversation. If you have a rent roll and operating statement handy, send those too.
Yes. We review apartment and multifamily loans across the state, including Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, and the Tri-Cities. If the building is in Tennessee, we are happy to look at it.
Most of the apartment loans we review in Tennessee run from $1 million to $30 million and up, on buildings from 5 units to more than 300.
Yes. We review retail, office, warehouse, self storage, mixed use, daycare, automotive, light industrial, and assisted living property across Tennessee for purchases, refinances, and cash out.
Yes. Interest-only payments for up to the full term are available on stabilized apartment buildings, and they are often paired with a cash out refinance so the owner keeps more of the building's monthly income.
Our programs go up to 75% LTV on a refinance. The building's income still has to support the new payment, so the real answer depends on the rent roll, the expenses, and what the building is worth today.
Often, yes. We start with the rent tenants are actually paying after concessions. If the building is close to stabilized, a long-term loan may work today. If not, a bridge loan can carry it until the free rent burns off.
Tennessee classifies residential buildings with two or more rental units as commercial property, so apartment buildings are assessed at a higher rate than homes. The current tax bill and any recent reappraisal go straight into the expense side of the loan, so it helps to have them handy.
Yes, including large, high-value cabins in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and the rest of Sevier County. The right short-term rental permit needs to be in place, and monthly booking history tells the story better than an annual total.
Send the address, the unit count, and what you want the loan to accomplish. We will take a look and tell you how we would approach it.
Send the numbers