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Bridge Loans are a suite of mortgage products uniquely designed to help homeowners and investors who want to purchase a new property prior to selling their current one.

• The right financing solution for your needs will depend on several factors, including your financial profile, how quickly you need the funds, and the amount of equity in your current residence. Here are the most common types of bridge loans we can arrange for you:
• Traditional Bridge Loan: Cashing out equity from your current residence to use for a down payment on a new property.
• Cross-Collateralization: Securing one loan against both the departing residence and your new home to access the equity in your current property in lieu of a down payment.
• Increased Financing on New Residence: Taking a larger mortgage on the new property, which you would pay down once you close on the sale of your current (soon to be prior) residence. This is similar to a Bridge Loan, but it uses the property you’re purchasing (rather than your current residence) as the collateral for the loan.
• Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC): Using a new (or existing) HELOC to borrow the funds for the down payment and closing costs on the new property.

There are costs associated with taking out a Bridge Loan, but there are also costs and impositions associated with selling your home before you have a new property to move into. A Bridge Loan could help you avoid the following:

• Double moving costs by having to move twice (into temporary housing and then into your new home)
• Expensive temporary housing and storage fees
• Uncertainty and stress of not knowing where you’ll be living before you sell your current residence
• Potential tax consequences when liquidating investments (consult your tax advisor)
• Children and pets being displaced
• Missing deadlines for school registration
• Not being able to easily time your move relative to various life events (wedding, vacation, etc.)
• Many more

The amount of time it takes to close a Bridge Loan varies depending on several factors, such as how quickly you provide paperwork requested by our team and how quickly related third parties (appraisers, building management companies, etc.) respond to our requests. Also, if the property securing your Bridge Loan is a co-op, you will need to obtain co-op board approval for your financing, and that can significantly lengthen the time it takes to close.

Bridge Loans have closing costs similar to other mortgage transactions, including loan underwriting/processing fees, title insurance, mortgage recording tax (NY State), appraisal fees, etc. Depending on the structure of the loan, you may also be required to pay from one to two “points” as well. One of our main goals is to find a cost-effective solution for your Bridge Loan scenario, so please inquire online and we will provide you with a closing cost estimate specific to your transaction.

Bridge Loans are all unique to each applicant, as are the rates that will be applicable to each situation. In some cases, rates may be the same as prevailing rates on conventional loans; in other cases, they could be higher depending on several factors. We recommend you inquire online so we can get you a rate quote specific to your Bridge Loan scenario.

We can secure financing against just about any type of residential property, including 1-4 family homes, co-ops (with board approval), condos and others. In general, properties must be in habitable/functional condition at the time of appraisal and free of open permits and non-mortgage liens (some exceptions may be possible on a case-by-case basis).

Yes! However, when you get bridge financing secured by a co-op, you need to get formal board approval for the financing before you can close. Some co-op boards are fine with shorter-term financing secured by the shares, while others may not be. Before you apply for bridge financing, we recommend you check with your managing agent or co-op board to determine if Bridge Loans are allowed and how long they may take to review and approve your application so you can plan accordingly. You should expect Bridge Loans secured by co-op apartments to take longer than 30 days to close because of the time needed to get board approval.

• Inquire Early: If you wait until your property is listed for sale or until you have an accepted offer on a new property to contact us, you may significantly limit the financing options we have to offer you. In some cases, that can also increase the cost associated with the Bridge Loan, so call us before you’re too far into a purchase or sale transaction so we have as many financing options as possible for you to choose from.
  
  Move Fast: Once you decide to proceed with an application, it’s imperative that you provide requested paperwork and signatures on standard loan disclosures quickly, since most Bridge Loans are time sensitive by nature. The longer you take to complete tasks during the approval process, the longer the loan will take to close and the more stressful it may become due to time pressures from the other parties associated with the purchase and sale transactions.
  
  Be Definitive: We want you to fully understand all of the costs and benefits of a Bridge Loan before you decide to proceed with an application so that you can make definitive decisions on the strategy that you want to follow. Wavering during the process can cause delays with your closing, so we ask that you gain as much knowledge as possible up-front, so you feel confident in pushing forward with the decisions you make at the onset of the transaction. That’s not to say that you can’t make changes along the way, but making those changes mid-stream could cause delays.