Bridge Loans​
A bridge loan is short-term financing for a sound real estate transaction when the timing does not line up with permanent financing or a sale. Terms run 6 to 36 months, payments are interest only, and GreenBridge provides financing from $50,000 to $30,000,000 in 31 states.
No credit check for your quote.
Credit Score
No Minimum
Term
6 to 36 Months
Loan Amount
$50,000 to $30,000,000
Where We Lend
31 States
Leverage
Up to 75% LTV
Timing
7 to 10 business days
Business-purpose financing only. Residential properties must be non-owner-occupied. Terms, leverage, and closing timelines vary by property and transaction.
What is a bridge loan?
A bridge loan is short-term financing used to cover a gap between an immediate need and a longer-term solution. Terms run 6 to 36 months with 12 and 24 the most common, payments are interest only, and the loan is secured by residential investment or commercial real estate. It is meant to be temporary by design. The point is not to hold it, it is to get from where the transaction is now to the refinance or the sale that pays it off.
How does the funding process work?
1. Prequalify
Finding out whether your scenario works comes first and takes about three minutes. The questions are about the property, the amount you need and the timeline you are working against. Checking eligibility does not affect your credit score.
2. Approval
A detailed quote arrives along with the loan application. Once the application is complete and signed, the loan portal opens for document upload so the file can be pre-underwritten and approved.
3. Valuation and Title
Valuation and title work run in parallel. Depending on the property and the scenario, the valuation is a full appraisal, a broker price opinion or an internal review, and it confirms the value that sets the maximum loan amount. While it is underway the file keeps moving, with the remaining conditions cleared alongside it rather than waited on in sequence.
4. Closing and funding
Closing is scheduled once the remaining conditions are cleared, at a time and place that works for you. Once all closing documents are signed, they undergo a brief review to ensure all signatures were made. Once confirmed, the title company or closing attorney will disburse funds. Your loan advisor is available during closing for anything that comes up.
Who funds a bridge loan?
On bridge loans that fit our in-house program, GreenBridge is the lender. Where a transaction falls outside those parameters, whether on loan size, property type or structure, we place it with one of the lending partners in the GreenBridge Lending Network, which keeps a sound transaction from falling through just because it does not fit one set of guidelines. The guidelines on this page reflect the full range across both, the review is the same either way, and you do not need to know which one applies before you apply.
When does a bridge loan make sense?
A bridge loan makes sense when the transaction is sound and the calendar is the problem.
Common situations include the following:
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A note is maturing and there is not enough time to arrange permanent financing before it comes due.
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A purchase has to close before the property you are selling actually sells.
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A property is vacant or still being stabilized and does not yet qualify for long-term financing.
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Equity needs to come out quickly to fund another transaction.
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A seller's timeline is shorter than a conventional lender can work to.
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What these have in common is a defined end point. Short-term money is priced to be temporary, so the refinance or the sale that pays it off should be identifiable before the loan closes rather than figured out later. If the property is already in active foreclosure, our foreclosure bailout program covers that situation.
How is a bridge loan different from a hard money loan?
Both are short-term, interest-only financing secured by real estate, and the difference is the situation rather than the product. A bridge loan is built for a straightforward transaction where timing is the problem, a note coming due or a purchase ahead of a sale, and it reaches up to 75% loan-to-value on residential collateral with rates starting at 8.675%. A hard money loan is built for the transactions conventional guidelines are not written for, meaning credit problems, a prior foreclosure or bankruptcy, or unique collateral such as land or a manufactured home, at up to 70% with rates starting at 9.75%.
If the deal is straightforward and the calendar is the only pressure, you are in the right place. If there is a complication in the property itself or in the history behind it, hard money loans is the page written for that.​
Who qualifies for a bridge loan?
Qualification centers on the property, the leverage requested and the exit. There is no minimum credit score, although credit history can affect the leverage and the pricing available. Income is not the basis of qualification on this program, and on some transactions we verify liquidity depending on the property, whether it is occupied and how the payments will be covered during the term. The loan must be for a business or investment purpose, residential collateral must be non-owner-occupied, and a personal guarantee is required.
The exit matters as much as the approval. A refinance, a sale or a stabilization plan should be identifiable before closing, because a short-term loan that matures with nothing behind it puts you back where you started.​
What property types qualify for a bridge loan?
Residential and commercial investment property both qualify. Residential means single-family homes, condominiums, townhouses and two to four unit buildings, and residential collateral must be non-owner-occupied. Leverage on residential reaches up to 75% loan-to-value.
Commercial property includes multifamily of five or more units, mixed-use, office, retail and strip retail, warehouse and light industrial, self-storage, commercial condominium, automotive and daycare. Leverage on commercial collateral reaches up to 65%.​
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Property location and marketability are part of the review on every transaction. GreenBridge lends in 31 states.
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Land, agricultural property, rural property and manufactured or mobile homes may be considered under our hard money program rather than bridge financing, where they are reviewed individually and at more conservative leverage. Where the financing needs to be long-term rather than temporary, stated income loans covers investors and secured business loans covers business owners borrowing against real estate for the business itself.
What loan terms are available on a bridge loan?
Terms run from 6 to 36 months, with 12 and 24 months the most common. Payments are interest only, which keeps the monthly obligation low while the property is being sold, stabilized or refinanced. The right term is the one that leaves enough room for the exit to actually happen, and selling takes longer than it looks once listing, finding a buyer and closing are added up.
Prepayment terms depend on the structure. Some transactions carry no prepayment penalty. Others require a minimum amount of interest, typically a set number of months, and where that applies it is disclosed with your loan terms before you commit.​​​
How much can you borrow with a bridge loan?
Loan amounts run from $50,000 to $30,000,000. Maximum leverage is up to 75% loan-to-value on residential investment property and up to 65% on commercial property. Credit history and investor experience both affect the maximum available on a given transaction, and a first-time investor generally sees a reduced ceiling.
Existing loans and any liens that have to be satisfied at closing are accounted for within the bridge loan proceeds and the applicable loan-to-value limit, so the equity available is what remains after them.​
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Where one property does not support the amount needed, additional eligible real estate can sometimes be pledged and leverage evaluated across the combined collateral.​
How fast can a bridge loan close?
A well-prepared transaction can close in 7 to 10 business days when the application and supporting documents are complete, title is ready and the required valuation can be scheduled promptly. Many take 10 to 15 business days, usually because of a full appraisal, additional title work or further underwriting conditions.
Title condition and the valuation are what usually set the pace rather than underwriting. If you already have a completed title report, often from a refinance that did not close, that may shorten the process where it is current and acceptable to the closing agent.​​​
What does a bridge loan cost?
Rates start at 8.675% and are quoted per transaction. Pricing moves with the property type, the location, the leverage requested and the overall risk of the transaction. Payments are interest only.
GreenBridge origination is based on loan amount, and additional lender and third-party fees may apply. Fees vary by transaction and are disclosed with your loan terms. Normal third-party closing costs also apply, including title, insurance and valuation.​​​
What pays the bridge loan off?
A bridge loan is designed to be replaced, so the question that matters most is what replaces it. There are two answers, and deciding which one you are working toward before the loan closes is what keeps a short-term loan from becoming a problem of its own.
Refinance. If you are keeping the property, the goal is permanent financing rather than another short-term loan. That usually means the property has to reach a condition or an occupancy level that long-term financing requires, which is often the whole reason the bridge loan existed. GreenBridge may be able to provide the bridge financing now and the long-term financing once the property is ready. Planning the exit at the beginning helps confirm the permanent financing is realistic before the bridge loan ever closes.
Sale. If you are selling, the term needs to leave room for the whole process, which is listing the property, finding a buyer and getting to a closing table. Six months sounds generous until a deal falls through at the inspection. Choosing an unrealistically short term to save on carrying cost is how a sale turns into a maturity problem.
The exit is worth discussing up front and worth revisiting during the term rather than at the end of it. If the timeline slips, options are much wider with three months left than with three weeks.
Common situations
Investors come to GreenBridge when the timing of a transaction does not line up with what conventional financing can do. The following are anonymized examples of transactions GreenBridge has worked on. Details have been changed to protect borrower privacy.
A maturing note and a lender unwilling to extend
The situation
A borrower's loan was due to mature in about a week, and the existing lender, a small private lender, was reluctant to extend it. The file itself was clean. The one issue was a small judgment from a couple of years earlier that was still attached to the property and had to be paid off before closing, which could take up to two weeks on its own.
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How we made it work
We reviewed the transaction up front and confirmed it worked on paper. Because the existing lender mainly needed to know it was going to be paid off, we offered to speak with them directly. We walked them through where the new loan stood and why the judgment needed time to clear, and asked for a one-month extension. They agreed and recorded it. The refinance closed inside the extension and paid them off in full. The borrower was still deciding whether to keep the property or sell it, so we set a 24-month term to leave both options open. About ten months in, he decided to hold it, and we refinanced him into permanent 30-year financing.​​
Pulling equity from a finished flip before it sold
The situation
An investor had just finished renovating a property, with the last repairs done the day before the appraisal, and was getting ready to list it. He did not want to wait for the sale to close before starting his next project, and his existing renovation loan was approaching its maturity date.
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How we made it work
The appraisal came back strong because the renovation had added real value. The new loan paid off the original lender before maturity and released a portion of that new equity to him at closing, enough to cover the down payment on his next project. We set a 12-month term so marketing and selling the property had room to take longer than expected. When the property sold, the rest of the equity came back to him. In effect, he drew on the value of a finished project that had not sold yet instead of waiting weeks to put that capital back to work.​
A 24-unit building that was still leasing up
The situation
A borrower owned a 24-unit apartment building that was still being stabilized, with eight units leased. The existing loan was coming due. Permanent financing would have been the ideal move, but a building that was a third occupied could not qualify for it yet.
How we made it work
This is what a bridge loan is for. We underwrote the building at its occupancy at the time and set a 12-month interest-only term, since that was all the time the borrower needed to fill the vacancies. The loan paid off the existing lender and included a little extra for exterior work, landscaping and a security system to help the units lease. Occupancy kept climbing over the next few months, and the borrower refinanced with a local bank earlier than planned, once the building was stabilized and met the bank's debt service coverage requirement.
FAQs
What is a bridge loan?
Is GreenBridge a direct lender?
Are there any credit score requirements?
How quickly can a bridge loan close?
What is the maximum loan-to-value?
What are the minimum and maximum loan amounts?
How long is the term?
Are there prepayment penalties?
What property types are eligible?
Can I get a bridge loan if there are existing liens on the property?
Do I need to document my income?
What fees are involved?
Can I use a bridge loan for new construction?
What states do you lend in?
How should I read the guidelines shown on this page?
About GreenBridge Loans
GreenBridge Loans has been financing business-purpose transactions since 2020, on investment and commercial real estate. Where a scenario fits our own guidelines, GreenBridge is the lender. Where it does not, we place it with one of the lending partners in the GreenBridge Lending Network, so a transaction that falls outside one set of guidelines may still have a path to closing.
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Last materially updated on October 6, 2026.