Written & reviewed by Stephen A. Sobin, President of Select Commercial Funding LLC
Kentucky
Kentucky Apartment Loans
Select Commercial arranges Kentucky apartment loans from $1,500,000, up to 80% LTV, with rates as low as 5.67%. We compare Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, bank and bridge programs to fit your property. On larger balances, see multifamily loans. See current rates on every loan type we offer.
Get a Free QuoteFinancing Options in Kentucky
Kentucky apartment, multifamily and commercial properties each have dedicated financing. Pick the page that matches your property:
Financing more of the state? See Kentucky commercial mortgages.
Financing in another state? Explore our apartment loans, multifamily loans and commercial mortgages nationwide.
Kentucky Apartment Loan Rates
Rates updated as of August 29, 2026
| Loan Type | Rate* | Max LTV |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Year Fixed | 6.07% | Up to 80% |
| 7 Year Fixed | 6.17% | Up to 80% |
| 10 Year Fixed | 6.25% | Up to 80% |
| Loan Type | Rate* | Max LTV |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Year Fixed | 5.67% | Up to 75% |
| 7 Year Fixed | 5.77% | Up to 75% |
| 10 Year Fixed | 5.85% | Up to 75% |
- Streamlined underwriting for institutional multifamily
- Cash-out refinances are acceptable
- Interest-only and non-recourse options
- Minimum 1.25x debt-service-coverage ratio
Rates last updated August 29, 2026. Rates and maximum LTV shown represent our best-case pricing scenarios. Actual rates, LTV, and loan terms are subject to underwriting approval and may vary.
Compare Kentucky Apartment Loan Programs
As a broker we compare every program for your best-fit Kentucky apartment financing:
| Program | Typical rate* | Max leverage | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fannie Mae Small Loan | 6.07% | Up to 80% | Non-recourse, fixed to 30 yrs |
| Freddie Mac SBL | 6.15% | Up to 80% | $2M to $10M small balance |
| FHA / HUD | 6.12% | Up to 85% | Highest leverage, longest term |
| Bank / portfolio | 6.25% | Up to 75% | Flexible, value-add |
| Bridge | 9.00% | Up to 80% LTC | Reposition, lease-up |
Most apartment lenders look for a debt-service-coverage ratio (DSCR) of at least 1.25x.
2026 Kentucky Apartment Loan Market
Kentucky’s two apartment markets are close in price and close in growth, which makes the differences between them easy to miss and expensive to ignore. Lexington average rent was about $1,383 as of August 2026, up 1.54% over the year. Louisville ran $1,338, up 1.76%. Both figures cover professionally managed buildings of fifty units and up.
That Lexington is the more expensive of the two is worth noticing, because it is the smaller city. The university, the hospital systems and the equine economy give Lexington a demand base that does not track manufacturing or logistics at all, and supply has been more constrained there than in Louisville.
Louisville is one of the most logistics-concentrated economies in the country. The air cargo hub and the distribution network built around it dominate employment in a way few metros of its size experience, alongside healthcare, bourbon production and automotive manufacturing. That concentration is a genuine strength and it is also something a lender reads carefully, for the same reason concentration gets read carefully in Huntsville or Las Vegas.
Basis is low and stock is old. Cost per unit across Kentucky sits well below the national average, which means an apartment loan here is nearly always sized on debt service coverage rather than on loan to value. Much of the rental stock in both cities predates the Second World War, particularly in Louisville’s older neighborhoods, so the property condition report carries real weight.
Across Kentucky we arrange apartment building loans from $1,500,000 through agency, bank, FHA and bridge programs. Rate and leverage follow the rent roll and the trailing twelve months of operating income, not your personal income.
Kentucky Markets We Finance
Two metros with genuinely different economies, plus a northern corner that belongs to another state’s metro. A Kentucky apartment mortgage is structured to the local employment base as much as to the building.
Louisville
The largest apartment market in Kentucky, at about $1,338 as of August 2026 and up 1.76% over the year. Air cargo and distribution dominate employment to an unusual degree for a metro this size, with healthcare, bourbon and automotive manufacturing alongside. The building stock is the defining underwriting feature: shotgun houses, Victorian conversions and pre-war walk-ups are common across the older neighborhoods, much of it attractive and much of it carrying a century of systems. Roofs, boilers, electrical service and plumbing get priced into the property condition report rather than overlooked, and a documented capital plan is frequently worth more proceeds than a modest improvement in rate.
Louisville apartment loans · Louisville commercial
Lexington and the Bluegrass
More expensive than Louisville at about $1,383, up 1.54%, despite being the smaller city. The university, the hospital systems and the equine industry give the Bluegrass a demand base that does not move with the manufacturing or logistics cycle, and land use around the horse farms has genuinely constrained how much new supply can arrive. Student-adjacent product near the university is underwritten differently from conventional apartments, with attention to the academic calendar, guaranties and summer vacancy. Agency lenders compete well here because occupancy has been durable.
Northern Kentucky and the Cincinnati side
Covington, Newport, Florence and the Boone, Kenton and Campbell county suburbs draw their demand from the Cincinnati metro across the Ohio River while operating under Kentucky law and Kentucky taxes. That combination is attractive to owners and worth understanding before you buy: your tenants may work in Ohio, but your building is governed here. Comparable sales for an appraisal may also cross the river, so it is worth asking early what geography the appraiser intends to use.
Bowling Green, Owensboro and the smaller cities
Automotive manufacturing and the university anchor Bowling Green, while Owensboro, Paducah and Richmond run on regional healthcare, education and river logistics. Basis per unit is the lowest in the state and going-in yields correspondingly high, with almost no new construction competing with existing buildings. These are community bank, credit union and agency small-balance markets throughout, and a lender will look at several years of operating history where the local economy rests on one or two large employers.
Rent figures above are average asking rents across professionally managed buildings of fifty units and up as of August 2026. Where we do not yet have a dedicated apartment page for a Kentucky city, the link goes to our commercial mortgage page for that market.
How a Kentucky Apartment File Actually Underwrites
Three things move a Kentucky loan, and none of them is the rent trend, which has been steady and unremarkable in both metros.
Building age, which is most of Louisville. Pre-war stock is the norm rather than the exception in the older Louisville neighborhoods, and lenders price it accordingly. Roofs, boiler age, electrical capacity, plumbing and any open code items all appear in the property condition report, and on a low-basis asset they can move proceeds more than rate does. The practical answer is documentation: three clean years of operating statements plus a funded schedule for major systems consistently out-borrows an identical building with a thin file. If you have replaced a roof, upgraded electrical service or converted heating, put the dates and costs in front of the lender rather than leaving the inspector to find it.
Employment concentration, particularly in Louisville. A logistics-dominated economy is a genuine strength when volumes are strong, and it is a concentration when they are not. An underwriter will typically look at a longer operating history on a Louisville building than the metro’s stability alone would suggest, and will discount a forward rent assumption built on a single strong year. Lexington’s university, hospital and equine base is read as steadier precisely because it is less dependent on any single sector or shipping cycle.
Water, in specific places. Kentucky has real flood exposure along the Ohio River corridor and flash flood risk in the eastern part of the state, and where a building sits relative to those changes the insurance line and therefore the loan. If your property is in a mapped flood zone, the elevation certificate and the flood policy belong with the rent roll rather than three weeks later. On buildings outside those corridors it is a non-issue, which is why it is worth establishing early rather than assuming either way.
What Kentucky does not have is a supply problem or a regulatory question. Neither metro took a construction wave, so there is no overhang to time and no concession war to unwind. That makes the file cleaner than in most of the Southeast, and it puts the emphasis squarely on the building and the documentation.
Refinancing a Kentucky Apartment Building
Kentucky refinances turn on the building and the paperwork rather than on market timing, because there is no cycle to wait out. That is genuinely helpful: you are not choosing between refinancing now and refinancing into a better market later.
Start with the rent roll and the trailing twelve. Proceeds are sized on in-place income, and because basis is low, sizing is nearly always coverage-driven. Every dollar of operating expense goes directly into the loan calculation, so review the statements yourself first and be ready to explain anything unusual.
Then the building, especially in Louisville. Pre-war stock carries specific costs a lender knows to look for. A documented capital schedule and evidence of completed work change the conversation materially, and on a low-basis asset that documentation is frequently worth more than a modest improvement in rate.
Then the flood question, if it applies. If your building sits near the Ohio River or in a mapped flood zone, send the elevation certificate and flood policy with everything else. If it does not, say so plainly so the lender is not left to wonder.
Then the note. Confirm the maturity date and whether prepayment is yield maintenance, a step-down or open, and start six to nine months ahead of a balloon so there is room to shop more than one lender rather than accept an extension. Cash-out is available on most programs where the equity supports it and coverage holds.
Send the rent roll and the trailing twelve and we will underwrite the building the way the lender will, then come back with written options inside 48 hours at no cost. Kentucky apartment loans start at $1,500,000, whether it is a fourteen-unit building in Old Louisville or a garden complex outside Lexington.
Kentucky Multifamily Financing
Apartment loan and multifamily loan describe the same debt: financing on a building with five or more residential units. We arrange it across Kentucky, from a small Louisville walk-up to a Lexington garden community, and the terminology has no bearing on the underwriting.
Loan size decides who competes. Because Kentucky basis is low, a great many buildings here sit in the range where regional banks, credit unions and the agency small-balance programs are sharpest, and where local knowledge of the neighborhood and the building stock counts for a great deal. Larger balances open the field to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, life companies and CMBS, and multifamily loan rates there are often tighter because the loan is big enough to securitize, at the cost of a heavier package: full appraisal, property condition report, environmental review, and sizing driven by net operating income, debt service coverage and debt yield.
Kentucky multifamily lenders concentrate on the condition of older stock and on the operating history behind it. Document both before you apply. Send the rent roll and the trailing twelve months and we will tell you which multifamily lenders are sharpest on your property, and what multifamily financing looks like at that size.
Kentucky Apartment Loan Types We Serve
We arrange financing across Kentucky for:
- Urban high-rise apartment buildings
- Suburban garden apartment complexes
- Small apartment buildings with 5+ units
- Underlying cooperative apartment loans
- Portfolios of small apartment and rental properties
- Mixed-use and other multifamily property
Apartment Loans Across Kentucky
We arrange apartment loans throughout Kentucky, not only in the two big cities. Bowling Green, Owensboro, Covington and the northern Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati, Paducah and Richmond are financed through the same agency, bank and credit union programs. Northern Kentucky in particular takes its demand from the Cincinnati metro across the river while sitting under Kentucky rules.
For larger balances see our Kentucky multifamily loans. For office, retail, industrial and owner-occupied property see Kentucky commercial mortgages, and nationwide we lend in most major U.S. cities.
Recent Apartment Loan Closings
A sample of apartment and multifamily loans we have arranged for investors nationwide.
Other Property & Loan Types We Finance in Kentucky
As a full-service commercial mortgage broker, we arrange Kentucky financing across every major property and loan type:
We consider commercial loan requests of all sizes, beginning at $1,500,000.
What Our Clients Say
“I am a veterinarian who purchased an existing practice. I was surprised to find a company that offered 100% financing at a good rate, with great terms and rates for medical office financing.”
Carol K. · Chicago, IL“I spoke to several commercial lenders before finding Select Commercial. They got me a lower rate and their service was exceptional. If you need a multifamily loan, you need to talk to Stephen.”
Nathan B. · Philadelphia, PA“Select Commercial was very helpful with my multifamily mortgage. Stephen went over several options and we came up with the best lender to meet my needs. I got the funds and also lowered my payments.”
Gary M. · Portland, OR“Select Commercial offered 100% financing for my medical practice when my bank would have required 20% down. They delivered something my bank could not, and handled everything professionally.”
John C. · Boston, MAGet Your Kentucky Apartment Loan Quote
No cost, no obligation. Written answers within 48 hours on Kentucky apartment loans from $1,500,000.
- No application or processing fees
- Written answers within 48 hours
- For 5+ unit and commercial properties, $1.5M and up