Veterinary Clinic Feasibility Study in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area

A top-ten metro for the class

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler is 9 of 485 nationally for clinic lending to veterinarians. SBA approved 54 here from FY2017 through FY2026 for $68.4 million. Locally, clinics are 16 of 39 among the asset classes, and a location quotient of 1.02x says clinics form almost exactly their national share of the area's loans. Clinics hold almost exactly their national share despite the high rank.

Ticket size

A midpoint of $811,650 is 1.31x the figure for veterinary clinics nationally. Typical loans run from $306,000 up to $1.7 million. The upper edge is more than five times the lower edge, so one typical size does not describe the cell. No program count and no franchise share is printed for this cell, so no claim about program or franchising can be made.

The two named holders

Live Oak Banking Company is listed on 8 loans worth $12.3 million, an average well above Wells Fargo Bank National Association's 5 loans worth $1.6 million. The gap in average loan size between the two is wide. These are the holders SBA records today.

Years

The years SBA prints are FY2017 with 8 loans and $5.1 million, FY2018 with 8 and $11.5 million, FY2020 with 6 and $5.4 million, and FY2024 with 5 and $5.0 million. The other years are hidden. The four printed years together hold exactly half of the 54 loans, leaving the rest of the span unreadable. Too few loans stand behind either loss rate for SBA to print one.

What a Phoenix-area clinic study tests

Studying a clinic here begins with the caseload a new practice can build, which depends on nearby households and competing clinics. The study should test heat and climate effects on kennel and boarding design, cost of construction or conversion against a loan near the midpoint, the pace at which a veterinarian's schedule fills, and technician pay. If a practice is being bought, the study should test what the seller's revenue depends on, such as a retiring doctor's client relationships. Loan payments need to be met even if the schedule fills slowly, and an appraiser must pull goodwill apart from the building.