SBA 7(a) Veterinary Clinic Feasibility Study in Texas

The largest clinic loans of any state in this program

Texas is third among states for SBA 7(a) veterinary clinic loans, and the distinctive figure is the median loan: $885,000, or 1.43x what veterinary borrowers take at the median across all states. In the period FY2017 to FY2026 SBA approved 229 such loans for $311.1 million in gross dollars, and a band from $300,000 to $1.9 million brackets the central half. Veterinary clinics rank 15th of 39 among Texas asset classes. Franchising barely registers at 2.2%.

One lender, and a clean early record

Live Oak Banking Company holds 72 loans worth $148.1 million, which is nearly half the dollars in the cell. The next holders are far smaller: The Huntington National Bank has 15 loans worth $11.6 million, Wells Fargo Bank National Association 14 worth $9.1 million, PNC Bank, National Association 13 worth $23.1 million and United Community Bank 12 worth $13.7 million. These are SBA's present holders and say nothing of a lender's rules. Harris County has 35 loans, Collin 25, Denton 15, Tarrant 14, and Travis and Williamson 11 each. Approvals fell from 44 in FY2017 to 14 in FY2026, with a spike to 34 in FY2025.

Reading the zero

In Texas, 11.0% or more of the clinic approvals made through FY2024 were cancelled, and 12.2% if loans never disbursed are included. For the 120 loans funded by FY2021 the charge-off floors print as 0.00%, both to date and over the first five years. That zero is a floor, not a clean bill of health: loans still open can fail, and the cohort is modest. It does say no loss had surfaced when SBA's data were drawn.

Testing a Texas clinic project

SBA 7(a) can pay for a practice purchase, equipment, a build-out or working capital, and the study should say which. At loan sizes this large, many borrowers appear to be buying established hospitals or building new ones, so the study should test the price against collections, retention of clients and doctors after a change of ownership, and the number of veterinarians needed to cover hours. It should count pet-owning households and competing practices in the trade area, which in the Houston and Dallas suburbs can be dense. Facility cost should be defended against a median near $885,000. Show payment coverage with a slow ramp in appointments. An appraiser values the clinic on its earnings, so the forecast and the valuation must agree.