Bridge Loans
The house you want is for sale now. Yours sells later.
Almost nobody gets to sell on Monday and buy on Tuesday. The equity you need for the next home is locked inside the one you are still living in, and the seller of the house you actually want will not wait for your listing photos. A bridge exists for exactly that gap — and there are three different kinds of it, depending on whether you are moving house or buying a project.
Who this is built for
Move-up buyers with equity and no liquidity
On paper you can afford the next house comfortably. In practice every dollar of the down payment is sitting in the walls of your current one. That is a timing problem, not a qualifying problem, and it has its own instrument.
Anyone who has lost a house to a contingency
A sale-contingent offer is the weakest one on the table, and in a competitive listing it usually loses to a clean one. Removing the contingency is often the entire point of bridging.
Investors who need to move before a sale clears
Property investors buying the next building while the last one is still under contract. This lane is business purpose, priced and structured differently, and it reaches cash-out as well as purchase.
Buyers of houses that are not finished yet
A property that will not pass an ordinary appraisal because of its condition needs financing that underwrites what it will be worth, not what it is worth today. That is a different product again, and it is on this page.
Tell me which house is the problem — the one you are buying or the one you are leaving. That one answer picks the instrument, and the three behave very differently.
Talk it throughA contingent offer is not really an offer
In a competitive listing, a sale-contingent offer usually loses to a clean one — even at the same price. Bridging is how the contingency comes off.
Three things that decide these files, and none of them are the interest rate:
The honest summary: bridging solves a timing problem, and it is not cheap money. It exists because being able to make a clean offer, or to buy a property nobody else can finance, is frequently worth more than the cost of the bridge. That comparison is arithmetic, and it is worth doing on paper before deciding.
| The exit is underwritten, not assumed | Decided before you start | Every one of these is repaid by a sale or a refinance. Which one, and whether it is realistic, is part of the approval — so it is worth settling in the first conversation rather than the last. |
| Business purpose is a hard wall | Not a preference | Two of the three routes here finance investment property only. That is a legal boundary, not a lender mood, and no amount of strong credit moves it. |
| Experience is collateral on a flip | Projects finished, not income earned | On the renovation route, the number of projects you have completed sets your leverage directly. A first-time investor is not eligible — which is worth knowing before, not after. |
Program parameters reflect two lenders’ current matrices and change without notice. Business-purpose programs are not consumer credit and are not available for owner-occupied property. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
How it actually works
Three instruments, three different jobs — and the first question is only ever which one you are in.
You are moving house
A line against the home you are leaving frees the equity now, so you can buy before you sell. It can sit in first or second position, which means an existing mortgage does not have to be disturbed. This is the consumer route, and the only one on this page available for a home you will live in.
You are an investor, and the clock is the problem
A short-term interest-only bridge against investment property, for purchase or cash-out. Business purpose, which means it is not available for a primary residence — but it is faster and more flexible than the permanent financing that eventually replaces it.
You are buying something to fix
Financing measured against the after-repair value rather than the condition on day one, with the improvement budget funded in draws. What you qualify for climbs with the number of projects you have finished before.
Every one of them is a bridge to something
None of these is permanent money. Each is designed to be repaid — by a sale, or by refinancing into a long-term loan once the property or the paperwork is ready. The exit is part of the underwrite, so it is worth deciding before you start.
What each route finances
Three separate products from two lenders. They do not combine, and only the first is available for a home you will live in.
The consumer route, and the only one on this page for a home you will live in. This table is structural rather than numeric on purpose: what this program will lend against your equity is quoted per file, and printing a number here that your file may not reach would be worse than printing none.
| The mechanic | What it does | The condition worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| A line against the home you are leaving | Frees the equity that is currently unreachable, so it can become the down payment on the next house | Available in first or second lien position — an existing first mortgage does not have to be touched |
| How it is qualified | Underwritten on a fully amortizing payment, not the smaller interest-only one you would actually make | Deliberately conservative, and the reason approvals on this route tend to hold together |
| How it is repaid | Built to be cleared when the departing home sells | Short-term by design; the structure and timing are quoted per file rather than published |
| What it removes from your offer | The sale contingency | Which is usually the entire reason to do it |
Worth being plain about what this is: a line of credit secured by a home you already own, used for a purpose that happens to be a down payment. If you want the same instrument without the moving deadline attached, that is simply a HELOC, and it has its own page. If you would rather take the equity out permanently in one piece, a second mortgage or a cash-out refinance answers a different version of the question — and on a move-up file it is worth pricing all three before choosing.
Representative of one credit union’s bridge home-equity program, matrix effective 07/01/2026, primary residence. Available in first or second lien position. Qualifying uses a fully amortizing payment calculation. Maximum line, combined loan-to-value, credit requirements, rate, margin and term are set per file and are not published here. Not all applicants will qualify.
A different lender, a different instrument, and a boundary that matters: this one is business purpose. It finances investment property, and it is not available for a home you will live in.
| The file | Maximum financing | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Investment property, one to four units — to $2,000,000 | 75% | From a 675 credit score |
| Any loan above one million dollars | 70% | The same credit floor, lower leverage |
| A first-time investor | 65% | The door still opens — at reduced leverage |
The useful details: it runs interest-only while it is outstanding, it carries no prepayment penalty at all — which matters a great deal on a loan you intend to pay off early — and it does purchase and cash-out both, so it can free equity from a property you already hold in order to move on the next one. Loan amounts reach two million dollars. What it will not do is finance a primary residence, because business-purpose credit is a different legal animal from a consumer mortgage; if the house is one you plan to live in, the first tab is your lane and this one is not.
Representative of one lender’s interest-only bridge program, rate sheet v66 effective 07/24/2026. Business-purpose credit secured by investment property, one to four units; not available for owner-occupied property. Maximum financing, credit score and loan amount are separate limits shown only in combinations printed together in the source, and do not combine with the other tabs on this page. Lender fees apply and are disclosed per file. Term, rate and pricing are not published here. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
The same lender’s renovation-and-resale program, also business purpose, on investment property. This one is unusual in that what you qualify for is set by how many projects you have already finished — experience is priced directly into the leverage:
| Track record | Against the finished value | Against your total cost |
|---|---|---|
| Five projects in the last two years — to $2,000,000 | 75% | 90% — with the first disbursement capped at 85% |
| Two projects | 75% | 85% — first disbursement 80% |
| One project, or one rental held | 70% | 80% — first disbursement 75% |
| Refinancing a project you already own | 70% | 70% — first disbursement 50% |
The improvement budget is capped by the same ladder — five hundred thousand dollars at the top rung, two hundred and fifty thousand at the middle, one hundred thousand at the entry level — and the money is released in draws against inspections rather than handed over at closing. Loans run from seventy-five thousand to two million dollars, and anything above a million requires the top experience rung. There is no prepayment penalty. Four limits are worth knowing before you plan around this one: first-time investors are not eligible at all, ground-up construction is not covered by this program, rural properties are excluded, and additions are capped at five hundred square feet. A rehab budget exceeding half the loan is considered case by case rather than declined. A project already underway can still be refinanced in with plans and permits, and foreign national investors are eligible with a US bank account.
Representative of one lender’s renovation-and-resale program, rate sheet v66 effective 07/24/2026. Business-purpose credit secured by non-owner-occupied investment property; not available for a primary residence. Financing against after-repair value and against total cost are separate limits applied together, tiered by documented project experience, and shown only in the combinations printed in the source. Improvement budgets, disbursement caps and experience requirements are as published in that source. Figures do not combine with the other tabs on this page. Draw releases require inspection. Lender fees apply and are disclosed per file. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
The boundaries that decide these files
What you actually hand over
For buying before you sell — the departing home
What you owe on it, what it is worth, and where it is in the selling process. The equity in that house is the whole basis of the loan.
For the investor routes — the property, not you
These are underwritten against the asset and the plan. Personal income documentation matters far less here than it does on the rest of this site.
For a renovation file — the scope and the receipts
A schedule of improvements, the contractor’s license and resume where applicable, and permits and plans if the work has already started.
For a renovation file — proof of your track record
Completed projects are what set your leverage, so they get documented like income would be anywhere else on this site.
For every one of them — the exit
How this loan gets repaid, and by when. It is part of the underwrite, not an afterthought.
Where it wins — and the honest trade-offs
Told straight, because this page is useless otherwise.
A non-contingent offer competes on a completely different footing. On a contested listing this is frequently the difference between winning the house and writing another offer next weekend.
The down payment for the next home is already yours — it is just in the wrong building. On the consumer route the line can sit behind an existing first mortgage, so a good rate you already hold does not have to be surrendered to reach it.
Both business-purpose programs here can be paid off early without a penalty. On a loan whose entire purpose is to be repaid early, that is not a small detail.
The renovation route underwrites the after-repair value, which is how a property that no ordinary appraisal will support gets bought at all.
That is the trade, and it should be measured rather than assumed. The question is never whether a bridge is expensive — it is whether it is cheaper than losing the house.
This is the real risk and it deserves naming. A slow sale means carrying both properties longer than planned. It is worth pricing that scenario deliberately before signing, not discovering it later.
No matter how strong the file, business-purpose programs cannot finance a home you will live in. If that is your situation, the first tab is the only lane on this page.
More lenders on our shelf run bridge and renovation programs than this page can currently show, because their terms are not yet cleared to publish. If the three routes here do not fit your file, ask — the segment is genuinely deeper than what is printed.
Start with which house is the problem
The one you are buying, or the one you are leaving — that single answer decides which of these three instruments you are actually in, and they behave very differently. Send me the two addresses and a rough sense of the equity, and you will get a straight answer about which lane fits and what it would take.
Questions people actually ask
Open the full Q&A — the exits, the business-purpose wall, and what happens if the sale is slow ▾
+Can I buy the next house before mine sells?
Yes, and that is exactly what the first route on this page exists for. A line against your current home frees the equity for the down payment, so your offer on the new house does not have to depend on your old one selling first. It can sit in second position, so a mortgage you are happy with stays where it is.
+What happens if my old house takes months to sell?
You carry both, and that is the honest risk of bridging. It is why the exit gets underwritten rather than assumed, and why the conversation should start with a realistic view of your local market rather than an optimistic one. If a slow sale would be genuinely painful, that is an argument for a different structure, and worth saying out loud early.
+Can I use a bridge loan to buy a home I will live in?
On the first route, yes — it is consumer credit secured by your current primary residence. On the two investor routes, no. Those are business-purpose programs, which is a legal category, not a policy preference: they finance investment property and cannot be used for a home you intend to occupy.
+How is a bridge different from just taking a HELOC?
Mechanically they are close cousins, and the first route here is a home-equity line used for a specific purpose. The difference is intent and timing: a bridge is written expecting to be repaid by a sale within a short window. If you want equity access without a moving deadline attached, the HELOC page is the better read.
+I want to buy a house that needs serious work. Which one is that?
The third tab — financing measured against what the property will be worth once the work is done, with the budget released in draws. Be aware of its two hard gates: first-time investors are not eligible, and it does not cover building from the ground up. If you want to renovate a home you will live in rather than resell, that is a different family of products entirely and worth asking about.
+What replaces the bridge at the end?
A sale, usually. If you are keeping the property instead, the permanent financing is whatever the property qualifies for — on a rental that is most often a DSCR loan, which qualifies on the rent it produces rather than your personal income. Deciding the exit first tends to make the whole file simpler.
+Do these have prepayment penalties?
Both investor routes on this page carry none, which matters because paying them off early is the entire plan. On the consumer route, the structure is quoted per file — ask, and it will be in writing before you commit.
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Loan programs, explained honestly
The programs described are offered through third-party lenders, are subject to lender approval and underwriting approval, and change without notice. The buy-before-you-sell route is consumer credit secured by a primary residence, representative of one credit union’s bridge home-equity program effective 07/01/2026; its maximum line, combined loan-to-value, credit requirements, term, rate and margin are set per file and are not published here. The investor bridge and renovation-and-resale routes are BUSINESS-PURPOSE credit secured by non-owner-occupied investment property, representative of one lender’s rate sheet v66 effective 07/24/2026; they are not consumer mortgage loans and are not available to finance a home the borrower intends to occupy. Figures from different programs do not combine. Financing percentages are maximums shown only in the combinations printed in each source, and are subject to appraisal, after-repair valuation, documented project experience and credit review. Lender fees, inspection and draw costs apply and are disclosed per file. Bridge financing is short-term and depends on a defined repayment event; if a property does not sell as expected the borrower remains responsible for all obligations. Not all applicants or properties will qualify. This is not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.