SBA 7(a) Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in Maryland

Small tickets and the loss history

Maryland mechanical repair under 7(a) holds 187 loans worth $52.6 million since FY2017. The state ranks 20 for the number of loans, and repair is 6th among the state's 39 classes. The median of $100,000 is 0.56x the nationwide 7(a) median for repair shops, and loans in the middle range from $39,500 to $350,000. Read the loss history closely: of the 67 loans that funded in FY2017 through FY2021, 9.0% have been charged off since, a share that stood at 4.5% inside the first five years.

The two cancellation marks

Cancellations reached 10.2% or more across FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, and 12.6% with undisbursed loans included; the distance between the two marks approvals that never closed. The 10.2% figure and the charge-offs are floors, and 12.6% is the ceiling.

One lender, many small names

Of the 187 loans, 97 sit with Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, and no other holder passes 8: Live Oak Banking Company has 8 and Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC 6. The entries show who holds each loan today and nothing about any bank's policy. A single holder accounts for just over half of the loans in this cell.

Franchises, counties and trend

Franchised shops are 8.6% of loans. Baltimore County leads with 26 loans, Prince Georges has 25, Anne Arundel 21, Montgomery 19, Frederick 17 and Howard 14. Volume rose from 8 loans in FY2022 to 30 in each of FY2025 and FY2026, when dollars were $11.3 million and $4.7 million.

What the class excludes

Heavy-truck work is filed together with car repair here. Collision, paint, glass and oil-change businesses sit in other classes, so a body shop should not take these figures as its own.

Testing a Maryland garage

Count vehicles in the trade area, the age of the fleet and the competing shops, then test technician hiring and pay. Bays, billable hours and parts margin set revenue. The lease or purchase price of the building needs comparison with local rates, and a loan near $100,000 should be matched with a list of tools and lifts. Given the charge-off record here, the repayment test should include a slow year and a lost technician, and the appraiser will rely on documented earnings.