Broker Insisting on using his SBA Banker

March 02, 2026

by a searcher from Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management in Brooklyn, NY, USA

Hi, I was curious if anyone has experience with a business broker insisting on you using their SBA banker and how you have approached this. I am open to letting their broker be included but am not sure how I feel about having to use their lender. What are people's thoughts on how to approach this?

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Reply by a searcher
from Northwestern University in San Francisco, CA, USA

Did the broker provide any insight as to why? You could play along and then shop it elsewhere. If you get a better quote, then tell them to either match or you want to use your preferred lender.

Reply by a lender
from Cornell University in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Hi ^redacted‌ - nice to meet you. I agree with many others here, you're the one signing the personal guarantee, so you get to decide who finances it. Full stop. The reason brokers do this is simple: they want control over the process and visibility into your financials. Sometimes there's a referral fee involved too. None of that helps you close on better terms. Here's what most people don't consider: that lender might not even be the right fit. Every SBA bank has different appetites, industry preferences, deal size sweet spots, how they treat seller notes, how aggressive they are on rate. A lender that works great for the broker's last deal might be completely wrong for yours. And if they decline you in underwriting after months of back and forth, you're scrambling with an expiring LOI and a frustrated seller. We handle SBA acquisition financing at GoSBA Loans across 50+ lenders. Every deal gets stress-tested on our end first, structure, coverage, eligibility, all before it ever hits a bank's desk. That way you're not guessing. You walk in with options and leverage instead of hoping one bank says yes. We have a lot experience financing various companies via the SBA. If you ever need help reviewing a deal, I am happy to help. We work with all the major SBA lenders. The bank pay us after your loan closes, so this is a 100% free service for you. You can email me directly at redacted or schedule a meeting with me: https://cal.com/francodeguzman/30min. Look forward to chatting!

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