Transition seamlessly with a bridge home loan tailored for you.

You’ve found the house you want, but the equity you need for the down payment is still sitting in the home you haven’t sold yet. It’s one of the more common timing problems in real estate, and it forces an uncomfortable choice: make an offer contingent on your sale and watch sellers pass you over, or sell first and figure out where to live in the meantime.

Bridge financing — also called a swing loan — exists to close that gap. It’s short-term borrowing that may allow eligible homeowners to access funds from their current property before it sells.

How Bridge Financing Works

A bridge loan is temporary by design. Depending on the lender and structure, funds may go toward a down payment, closing costs, or other eligible expenses on the new home, with repayment typically expected when the current property sells.

That repayment expectation is the defining feature. These loans are underwritten around an exit — usually the sale — and the terms are built for months, not decades. Lenders will want to understand your repayment plan before approving anything.

Common Structures

Short-Term Bridge Loan

Purpose-built temporary financing with a defined repayment window. It’s not intended to replace long-term mortgage financing, and borrowers should be clear on exactly when it comes due and what the options are if the current home takes longer to sell than expected.

Equity-Based Financing

Some homeowners with sufficient equity explore a home equity line of credit or similar product against their existing property instead. Terms and costs differ from a dedicated bridge loan, and one important caveat applies: many lenders will not open a HELOC on a property already listed for sale. If this is a route you’re considering, timing matters — it generally needs to be in place before the listing goes live.

Which structure fits depends on your equity position, expected sale timing, purchase price, income, assets, and lender guidelines. Not every option is available to every borrower.

What Lenders Evaluate

Requirements vary considerably between lenders, and there’s no universal credit score, debt-to-income ratio, or equity threshold that applies across the board. Generally, lenders review:

• Equity in the current property. Often the most important factor, since the existing home typically serves as collateral and as the expected repayment source.
• Credit history and profile. Evaluated as a whole rather than against a single cutoff.
• Income and stability. Particularly relevant given the overlapping obligations.
• Debt-to-income ratio. Some lenders will qualify you carrying both mortgage payments plus the bridge loan; others use different calculations. This varies enough between lenders to be worth asking about specifically.
• Reserves. Liquid assets available if the sale takes longer than anticipated.
• Repayment plan. How and when the loan will be paid off.

Documentation to Expect

• Income verification — pay stubs, W-2s, tax returns, or bank statements
• Asset and reserve statements from bank, investment, or retirement accounts
• Personal or business tax returns, depending on your income sources
• Credit reports and payment history
• Property documentation — purchase agreement, valuations or appraisals, insurance, and information on the current home including any listing activity

Additional items are commonly requested during underwriting, and requirements differ by lender.

Costs

Bridge financing typically costs more than conventional long-term financing. Expect some combination of origination fees, closing costs, appraisal fees, title expenses, and servicing charges, along with interest pricing that differs from a standard mortgage.

Two details worth asking about before committing:

Payment structure. Some bridge loans require monthly interest payments; others defer interest until payoff. That difference materially affects your monthly cash flow while carrying two properties.

Prepayment terms. Since the plan is usually to repay early when the home sells, understand whether any minimum interest period or prepayment provision applies.

The Real Risk

The advantages are straightforward — access to funds before your sale closes, the ability to make an offer that isn’t contingent on that sale, and breathing room on timing. In a competitive market, a non-contingent offer can carry real weight.

The risk is equally straightforward: if your current home doesn’t sell on the expected timeline, you’re carrying two mortgage payments plus the bridge loan, with a repayment date approaching. Markets soften, appraisals come in low, buyers’ financing falls through.

Before moving forward, we’d want you to have honest answers to a few questions. What’s the realistic days-on-market for comparable homes in your area right now? If your home sat unsold for several months past your expected timeline, could you carry the costs? Do you have a fallback if the sale price comes in below what you projected? And what happens at the bridge loan’s maturity date if the sale hasn’t closed — will the lender extend, and at what cost?

Is Bridge Financing Right for You?

Bridge loans tend to make the most sense for homeowners with substantial equity, stable income sufficient to absorb overlapping costs if needed, and a property likely to sell reasonably quickly. They’re a poorer fit for borrowers with thin equity, tight cash flow, or a home in a slow-moving market segment.

All financing is subject to underwriting, income and asset verification, property requirements, and applicable lender guidelines. Eligibility and terms depend on borrower qualifications and cannot be determined in advance.

We’re glad to look at your equity position, your timeline, and what the overlap would actually cost, and help you determine whether bridge financing may be appropriate for your situation.