Chiropractic Business Secures $180k Second Mortgage | Go For Broker

Business Loans, Second Mortgage, Bank Declined, Working Capital, Case Study

Discover how Go For Broker helped a NSW chiropractic business secure $180,000 through a second mortgage - structured as two facilities, $125,000 at 20.28% per annum and $55,000 at 23.4% per annum - settling within a week to meet a legal settlement deadline, after a bank couldn't move fast enough following an injury-driven revenue dip.

A legal settlement with a deadline. An injury that had already dented cash flow. And two facilities on the same deal priced differently - because they weren't actually the same risk.

Most people assume a single loan has a single rate. This deal didn't. $125,000 came in at 20.28% per annum, and $55,000 came in at 23.4% per annum - on the same client, the same security, the same week. That's not a pricing inconsistency. It's exactly how risk-based lending is supposed to work.

First, Why the Banks said No

None of the individual issues here were disqualifying on their own. Together, on a tight timeframe, they were enough for a bank to pass.

The timing was too tight. A legal settlement deadline doesn't wait for a standard bank process, and banks weren't able to move fast enough for the timeframe required.

Revenue had dipped on paper. An injury had kept the client away from the business, and the resulting dip in revenue is exactly the kind of number a bank's standard metrics flag - even though the cause was temporary and already resolving.

Existing payment arrangements were in place. With arrangements already active on the existing mortgages while the business recovered, this wasn't the clean, straightforward application a bank typically wants to see.

Our Thinking

This wasn't a failing business - it was a business hit by two unrelated setbacks landing at the same time. By the time we were structuring the deal, the legal matter had already been resolved and the business was trading again. What the client needed was time and a lender willing to look at the recovery already underway, not a fresh read of the worst month on the file.

The Numbers

Facility 1

Amount: $125,000

Rate: 20.28% per annum

Purpose: Working Capital and equipment finance

Facility 2

Amount: $55,000

Rate: 23.4% per annum

Purpose: Working Capital and equipment finance

Total Funding Arranged:$180,000

What people miss

The instinct is to ask "why wasn't it all priced at 20.28%?" But a blended facility isn't one risk - it's however many risks make it up. The $55,000 tranche carried a higher rate because smaller facilities generally carry proportionally higher fixed costs and, depending on structure, can sit in a different risk position within the security. A single headline rate would have either overcharged the lower-risk portion or undercharged the higher-risk one. Pricing each tranche on its own risk is what let the client access the full $180,000 at all, rather than being declined outright for asking one lender to average two different risks into one number.

The point isn't that one is better

Once the mortgage arrears clear and 12 months of clean trading history builds up, this is exactly the kind of facility that belongs back with a bank at a materially lower rate - which is precisely the plan already in motion. Nobody should carry a 20%+ rate longer than the situation actually requires.

But in the window right after a legal settlement and an injury-driven dip, a bank's process wasn't built to move fast enough or look past the recent numbers. The private structure wasn't the cheaper option - it was the one that could actually close before the settlement deadline passed.

The Outcome

• $180,000 raised via a property-backed second mortgage across two properties

• Settled within one week, allowing the first settlement payment to be made on time

• Business back trading and operational

• Mortgage arrears reducing under agreed payment arrangements

• Client now working with Go For Broker towards refinancing back into a lower-cost first mortgage

Could Your Clients Benefit from a Similar Strategy?

If you're an accountant, adviser, or agency working with a client caught between a hard deadline and a bank that can't move fast enough, this case shows what's achievable with the right structure and the right lender. For businesses and SMEs across Australia, a temporary setback - an injury, a legal matter, a dip that's already resolving - shouldn't cost a client a deal they can't afford to lose.

Whether the underlying pressure is a settlement deadline, a revenue dip with a clear, explainable cause, or existing payment arrangements that make an application look messier than the business actually is, a well-structured private facility - backed by experienced brokers with access to non-bank and private lending, and the ability to price risk tranche by tranche rather than declining outright - can close in time and still leave a clear path back to cheaper, mainstream lending.

FAQs

Why would two facilities on the same deal have different interest rates? Because they're rarely the same risk. Lenders often price each tranche of a facility according to its own size, security position, and risk profile rather than applying one blended rate across the whole amount - which can actually make more capital available than a single flat rate would.

Can I get a business loan if my mortgage has payment arrangements in place due to a temporary setback? Yes - private and non-bank lenders can often assess a deal on the full picture, including a documented recovery already underway, rather than declining based on a payment arrangement alone.

How quickly can I raise funds to meet a legal settlement deadline in Australia? Timeframes depend on the lender and security available, but with clear property security, a second mortgage can in some cases be arranged and settled within about a week - considerably faster than a typical bank process.

What if my business revenue has temporarily dipped due to injury or a personal setback? A broker with access to non-bank and private lenders can often structure finance around the underlying security and the business's trading trajectory, rather than a single dip in recent revenue.