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Mortgage Glossary

What is Bridge Loan?

A bridge loan is short-term financing that covers the gap between buying a new home and receiving the proceeds from selling your current one. In Canada, it lets you close on a new property before your existing home's sale finalizes. The loan is repaid once the sale of your old home closes.

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Quick answer

A bridge loan is short-term financing that covers the gap between buying a new home and receiving the proceeds from selling your current one. In Canada, it lets you close on a new property before your existing home's sale finalizes. The loan is repaid once the sale of your old home closes.

Also known as: bridge financing, bridge mortgage

Key points

  • A bridge loan is short-term financing between buying and selling homes.
  • It is secured against the equity in your current home.
  • It usually requires a firm, unconditional sale on your existing home.
  • Interest rates are higher than a regular mortgage, often prime plus a premium.
  • The loan is repaid in full when your current home's sale closes.

Bridge Loan explained

A bridge loan provides temporary funds, usually for a few weeks up to a few months, so you can complete the purchase of a new home when its closing date falls before the closing date of your current home's sale. It bridges the timing gap, drawing on the equity tied up in your soon-to-be-sold property.

In Canada, bridge financing is typically offered by the same lender providing your new mortgage and is secured against the equity in your existing home. Because it is short-term and convenient, the interest rate is usually higher than a regular mortgage, often prime plus a premium, and there may be an administration fee. It generally requires a firm, unconditional sale agreement on your current home.

What a Bridge Loan is for

A bridge loan exists to solve mismatched closing dates. It frees up the equity from a home you have sold but not yet closed, so you can fund the down payment and purchase of your new home without scrambling for cash or being forced to align both deals on the same day.

How it can help you

A bridge loan helps Canadian movers buy and sell smoothly without rushing or settling for an awkward closing schedule. It removes the stress of needing both transactions to line up perfectly. Comparing lenders through Lenderoo's free service across 40+ lenders helps you find competitive bridge financing terms.

When it comes up

A bridge loan comes up when a family buys a new home that closes on the 10th of the month, but their current home does not close until the 25th. The bridge loan covers the down payment for the new home during those 15 days, then is repaid when the old home's sale closes.

Example: covering the gap

You are selling your current home for $500,000 with a $200,000 mortgage, leaving about $300,000 in equity. Your new home closes 15 days before your sale.

A bridge loan advances part of that $300,000 equity to fund your new down payment now. When your sale closes 15 days later, the proceeds repay the bridge loan plus interest, which on a short 15-day bridge would be a modest amount on the borrowed sum.

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Questions & answers

Bridge Loan: frequently asked questions

Common questions Canadians ask about bridge loan.

Keep learning

Related mortgage terms

Equity

The difference between a home's market value and outstanding mortgage balance

Read definition

Down Payment

The upfront cash payment made when purchasing a home

Read definition

Prime Rate

The base lending rate banks use to price variable loans.

Read definition

Closing Costs

Fees and expenses paid when finalizing a real estate transaction

Read definition

Second Mortgage

An additional loan secured against a property that already has a first mortgage registered on its title.

Read definition
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