Worked Example: SBA 7(a) Flex-Serve Car Wash Feasibility Study in Texas
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a car wash project in Texas, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is Hidalgo County, TX alone: 668 loans and $256.3 million for FY2017 to FY2026, ranking 139 of 928. The charge-off floors are the headline. Of 244 funded loans in the earlier approval years, 9.4% have been charged off to date and 7.4% within five years, which means most of the losses recorded arrived in the early years. Cancelled approvals total at least 13.0% for FY2024 and earlier. SBA releases no version that adds undisbursed loans, so this page prints neither a figure for it nor a zero.
Loans here are small. A $150,000 median is 0.72x the national level, with the middle of the loan range is bounded by $50,000 and $398,500. Franchise brands account for 11.8% of loans. Programme mix is 636 under 7(a) and only 32 under 504, so the market is mostly working capital and modest purchases. LiftFund, Inc. holds 15 of the 504 loans, worth $20.0 million, ahead of Brownsville Local Development Company, Inc. with 6 and Capital Certified Development Corporation with 5.
Full-service restaurant is first among the named classes at 33 loans, and limited-service restaurant follows at 29, then child care center with 13, dental office with 12, and, at 11 each, coffee shop and snack bar and beauty salon. Hotel and motel has 10, medical office 10 and rehabilitation and therapy clinic 9. Altogether 482 loans lie in no tracked class. Hidalgo's record has no entries for the institutional classes.
Holders here are as SBA lists them and describe loan location only. PNC Bank, National Association holds 78 7(a) loans worth $10.4 million, Lone Star National Bank 64 worth $13.5 million, plus Wells Fargo Bank National Association at 55 worth $7.9 million and PlainsCapital Bank 49 worth $5.2 million. Newtek Bank, National Association holds 31 loans worth $14.1 million, a larger average than the rest. Annual volume was 28 loans in FY2020 and 104 loans with $42.7 million in FY2025.
A study for a McAllen-area project has to explain why a given use should outperform the loss history above, test demand in a county with modest loan sizes, and show debt service coverage that tolerates a charge-off floor of this height. Cost should be kept in proportion to the small tickets typical here. An appraisal must carry the value. The 2023 delineation decides which loans appear, and nothing on this page forecasts an outcome for anyone.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 668 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $256.3 million |
| Median loan | $150,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $50,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $398,500 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 636 |
| SBA 504 loans | 32 |
| Franchise share of loans | 11.8% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 139 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 0.72x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 13.0% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | withheld |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 9.4% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | 7.4% |
| Loans in that cohort | 244 |
Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.
SBA loans approved in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 102 | $33.1 million |
| FY2018 | 50 | $14.0 million |
| FY2019 | 53 | $17.9 million |
| FY2020 | 28 | $15.1 million |
| FY2021 | 49 | $25.7 million |
| FY2022 | 53 | $29.3 million |
| FY2023 | 78 | $29.2 million |
| FY2024 | 95 | $23.3 million |
| FY2025 | 104 | $42.7 million |
| FY2026 | 56 | $26.1 million |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 482 |
| Full-service restaurant | 33 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 29 |
| Child care center | 13 |
| Dental office | 12 |
| Beauty salon | 11 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 11 |
| Hotel and motel | 10 |
| Medical office (physicians) | 10 |
| Rehabilitation and therapy clinic | 9 |
| Gas station and truck stop | 5 |
| Veterinary clinic | 5 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 5 |
| Fitness center | 5 |
| Grocery store | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| LiftFund, Inc. | 15 | $20.0 million |
| Brownsville Local Development Company, Inc. | 6 | $6.5 million |
| Capital Certified Development Corporation | 5 | $5.6 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| PNC Bank, National Association | 78 | $10.4 million |
| Lone Star National Bank | 64 | $13.5 million |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 55 | $7.9 million |
| PlainsCapital Bank | 49 | $5.2 million |
| Newtek Bank, National Association | 31 | $14.1 million |
Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Hidalgo County, TX | 668 |
Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.
Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.
All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.
A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MT-32580.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a car wash project in Texas, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.
Start with the data.
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