There are more programs offered by the Small Business Administration than ever before, but the same successful flagship loans are still the most popular decades after their introduction, and there are some great reasons for that. If you are looking for a way to finance new equipment, franchising costs, or even a piece of property your business can call home, SBA loans are designed to help your small company compete and succeed.

1. You Can Cover Property and Equipment in One Loan

The SBA’s 504 loan program is one of the most popular small business loans of any kind, in large part because it is a multi-asset loan. That means you can combine equipment and property purchases into one consolidated monthly loan payment with terms slightly longer than most commercial mortgages can go.

This makes it possible for an investor with the capital down payment requirements met to essentially fund an entire startup from one loan. The program can also be used on multiple pieces of equipment with no real estate component, so it is ideal for heavy machinery with a long operating life.

2. Rates and Terms Are Incredibly Generous

SBA loans are designed to work well for small companies, and part of that design is a risk controlling guarantee of a portion of the funds. This incentivizes the lender to approve companies outside their usual requirements at rates that are well below what they could usually offer to new or small businesses. Similarly, the length of the repayment term is often more generous than what you find offered in traditional loan programs because the loans are designed to help smaller companies grow. It’s the whole mission.

3. Accessible Down Payment Requirements

If you are using either of the flagship loan programs for asset acquisition, there is a firm down payment requirement. When you compare it to the LTVs offered and down payment requirements demanded for traditional loans on those same assets from banks, it quickly becomes clear that the SBA does a lot to keep the initial costs of the loan down. LTVs on the 504 and 7a loans are higher than the average for the industry, although they do fluctuate somewhat from year to year as the Administration fine tunes its loan offerings.

There are a lot more reasons to pick SBA loans if you dig into programs like the microloan and working capital loan offerings that have been added in recent years. Check them out if you are looking for faster approvals on smaller capital amounts with more flexibility.