Washington apartment owners are working under a new set of rules, with a statewide cap on rent increases that took effect in 2025 and a Puget Sound market that is finally tightening again. We review apartment, multifamily, and commercial loans across the state, with interest-only and cash out options for owners who want their buildings working harder.
Apartment and commercial loans from $1 million to $30 million+
In May 2025, Washington became one of the few states in the country with a statewide limit on how much an apartment owner can raise the rent. The rule caps increases at 7% plus inflation, never more than 10% in a year, and it changed how a lot of owners think about the next few years of their buildings. Newer buildings get a pass for their first twelve years, which is why the conversation in Washington depends so much on when a building was finished.
At the same time, the Puget Sound apartment market has been quietly tightening. By the middle of 2026 vacancy across the region had come down from where it was earlier in the year, and the Eastside around Bellevue and Redmond was the tightest part of the region. For an owner, that matters. A building that is full and collecting steady rent is in a strong position to refinance, pull cash out, or move to interest-only payments, even with a cap on how fast rents can climb.
Capituro reviews loan requests for Washington apartment buildings, multifamily portfolios, and commercial property, from Seattle and the Eastside to Tacoma, Everett, Spokane, and Vancouver. 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 Washington details we would rather talk through at the start than discover halfway in.
Under the 2025 law, rent increases after the first year of a tenancy are capped at 7% plus inflation, up to 10%, and owners have to give 90 days' notice. Buildings within twelve years of their first certificate of occupancy are exempt. So the first questions we ask are when the building was finished and how close today's rents are to market, because that tells us how much room the rent roll has to grow.
Seattle asks for 180 days' notice before any rent increase, and an increase of 10% or more can trigger relocation assistance for a tenant who decides to move. None of that stops a refinance, but it shapes how quickly a Seattle building can move toward market rent, so it belongs in the conversation from the start.
Washington charges a real estate excise tax when a property sells, and on larger buildings the top bracket reaches 3% of the portion of the price above about $3 million. A cash out refinance lets an owner reach the equity in a building without selling it, which is one reason so many long-time Washington owners would rather borrow against a building than sell it.
Have a Washington building in mind?
Send the numbersA Washington 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 Washington apartment buildings from 5 units to 300+, from a garden community in Tacoma to a mid-rise on the Eastside.
Read program detailsFor owners who want to put the equity in a stabilized apartment or commercial building to work without selling it, 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, tenant rollover, or a purchase that needs to close before long-term financing makes sense.
Read program detailsFor stabilized Washington rentals with one to four units, from a duplex in Spokane to a fourplex in Tacoma.
Read program detailsAmazon in Seattle and Bellevue, Microsoft in Redmond, and the thousands of companies that grew up around them have made the Puget Sound one of the deepest renter pools in the country. The Eastside has been the tightest part of the region, while Seattle itself has spent the last few years absorbing a long run of new buildings.
Tacoma has its own engine, with Joint Base Lewis-McChord to the south and one of the busiest ports on the West Coast on its waterfront. Rents run below Seattle, which keeps a steady stream of renters heading down I-5, and garden communities across Pierce County fill with military families and commuters alike.
Spokane is the largest city in eastern Washington, with hospitals, universities, and Fairchild Air Force Base anchoring a renter base that does not depend on the coast. Prices are well below the Puget Sound, which means a building in Spokane can often carry its loan more comfortably than a similar one on the west side of the mountains.
Vancouver sits right across the Columbia River from Portland, and it has spent the last two decades growing into a real city of its own, with a rebuilt waterfront and a steady flow of renters from the Portland metro. It is one of the most active apartment markets in the state outside the Puget Sound.
We review deals across all of Washington, including cities not listed here.
The owner has had the building for years, kept good tenants, and never pushed the rent hard. Under the cap, closing that gap will take time, but the building is full and the equity is real. An interest-only loan with cash out can put that equity to work today without waiting on rent growth.
The building is close to stabilized and still inside its twelve-year exemption from the rent cap. Sometimes the right answer is a long-term loan today, and sometimes it is a bridge loan now and a long-term loan once the last units are leased. We would rather lay out both than force one.
Three or four garden buildings picked up one at a time over the years, each with its own loan. Pulling them together, or refinancing the strongest one to free up cash for the next purchase, is the kind of conversation where choosing the right program makes the biggest difference.
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 Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, Tacoma, Everett, Olympia, Spokane, and Vancouver. If the building is in Washington, we are happy to look at it.
Most of the apartment loans we review in Washington 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 Washington 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.
It can shape it, but it does not stop it. Since 2025, increases after the first year of a tenancy are capped at 7% plus inflation, up to 10%, and buildings within twelve years of their first certificate of occupancy are exempt. We look at the rents your tenants pay today and how much room the building has to grow within the cap.
Seattle requires 180 days' notice before a rent increase, and an increase of 10% or more can trigger relocation assistance. We factor those rules into how we look at a Seattle building's rent roll.
Yes. We review DSCR loans on 1 to 4 unit rentals statewide, from a Spokane duplex to a Tacoma fourplex.
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.
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