Bridge loans exist because good deals move faster than banks. When a property needs to close in three weeks, or won’t qualify for permanent financing until it’s stabilized, bridge capital fills the gap — at a price. Understanding that price, and more importantly your exit from it, is the whole game.
What Bridge Debt Costs
Expect rates meaningfully above bank financing, plus origination points, with terms of six months to three years and interest-only payments. That premium buys you two things: speed (closings in two to four weeks) and flexibility (lenders underwriting the asset’s potential, not just its current state).
A bridge loan is only as good as the exit. If you can’t name the takeout before you close, you’re not bridging — you’re gambling.
The Exit Is the Underwriting
Every bridge deal we help structure starts from the end: what does the property look like at stabilization, what permanent debt does that support, and does that takeout retire the bridge with room to spare? We stress-test the timeline too — renovations run long, lease-up takes an extra quarter, and your bridge term needs to survive both.
Used this way, bridge debt isn’t expensive money. It’s the cost of getting into a deal that wouldn’t exist by the time a bank said yes.
Talking through a deal like this?
A consultation costs nothing and gives you a straight read on your options.