Bridge Loan Cost Estimator

The true cost of buying your next home before the current one sells

The Bridge

Equity in Current Home ($)

Cash Needed for New Purchase ($)

Bridge Rate (%)

Months Until Your Sale Closes

Origination & Fees (%)

Current Home's PITI ($/mo, double carry)

Cost of the Bridge

$—

Total Bridge Cost

$—

Monthly Interest Carry

$—

Double-Carry Total

Cost	Amount

All-in cost breakdown

Cost of running long

Cumulative bridge interest Cumulative double-carry PITI

Month-by-month cost

Month	Bridge interest	Double-carry PITI	Cumulative all-in

The bridge is interest-only — none of these payments reduce the loan balance. The full principal is due in one lump sum when your current home sells.

Bridge loans solve the chicken-and-egg of moving: your next home's down payment is locked inside your current home's walls. A bridge borrows against that trapped equity for a few months — expensive, short, and sometimes exactly right. This estimator prices the full convenience: origination, interest-only carry, and the double-PITI months of owning two homes, so you can compare the bridge against its cheaper cousins before signing.

How Bridge Loans Work

Size: typically up to 80% of your current home's equity, secured by that home (sometimes both).
Rate: well above mortgage rates — commonly prime + 2 or 8.5–11% — because the loan is short and the lender's exit depends on your sale.
Payments: usually interest-only, with full payoff from your sale proceeds; terms run 6–12 months.
Fees: 1.5–3% origination plus appraisal and title — a meaningful fixed cost on a short loan, which is why the effective annualized cost is high.

The Example, Totaled

Borrowing $120,000 at 9.5% for 4 months with 2% fees: about $3,900 in fees and $3,800 in interest — ~$7,700, plus four months of double PITI on the unsold home (~$7,400 in the default). The all-in cost of not waiting: roughly $15,000. Whether that's worth it depends entirely on what waiting would cost — the dream house lost, or the contingent-offer discount taken.

Bridge vs the Alternatives

Option	Cost	Catch
Bridge loan	High rate + fees, short	Two homes, one sale that must happen
HELOC on current home	Lower rate, minimal fees	Must be opened BEFORE listing — lenders won't HELOC a listed home
Contingent offer	Free	Weak in competitive markets; sellers discount or reject
Sell first, rent back / temporary housing	Rent + moving twice	Certainty in exchange for hassle
401(k) loan	Interest paid to yourself	Job-change acceleration risk; opportunity cost

The planning insight most people learn too late: open a HELOC while you still live there, months before listing. It's the bridge loan's job at half the price — but only if arranged before the For Sale sign. See the Home Equity Loan Calculator.

Risk: The Bridge That Doesn't End

Every bridge assumes your home sells on schedule. The note under your results prices each slow month (interest + double PITI) — commonly $3,000–5,000/month. Mitigations: price the old home to sell (not to hope), get the bridge with a 12-month term even if you expect 4, and confirm there's no prepayment penalty for finishing early.

How to Use the Estimator

Enter your current equity, the cash the new purchase needs, and the quoted rate and fees.
Set a realistic months-to-sale (your agent's median days-on-market + escrow, plus margin).
Read the all-in line — then price a HELOC and a contingent offer against it before deciding.

Frequently Asked Questions

How fast can a bridge loan close?

Two to three weeks typically — faster than a mortgage since it's equity-based. Hard-money bridges close in days at higher cost. Speed is the product; you're paying for it.

Do I make payments on a bridge loan?

Usually interest-only monthly; some lenders defer everything to payoff at sale. Deferred structures accrue — convenient, slightly costlier, worth it if double-carry cash flow is tight.

What credit and income do I need?

Lenders focus on equity and the exit (your home's marketability), but you'll still be carrying two housing payments plus bridge interest in their DTI math — that's the qualification that trips people.

What happens if my home doesn't sell before the term ends?

Extensions (for a fee), refinancing the bridge, or a price cut on the home — in practice the price cut is usually the answer, and it was usually the answer at month one too. List realistically.

Is a bridge loan tax-deductible?

Interest may be deductible if the debt is secured by a qualified residence within the acquisition-debt limits and you itemize — the short timeline makes it minor either way; don't let the tax tail wag the decision.

Bridge loan or buy-before-you-sell company programs?

The 'power buyer' services (buy on your behalf in cash, you repurchase) bundle bridge economics with convenience fees of 1.5–2.5%. Compare their all-in fee against this estimator's total — sometimes they win on offer strength alone in hot markets.

Is my information private?

Yes — everything computes locally in your browser.

A bridge loan buys certainty in a timing gap — at a price this estimator makes explicit. If your move is months away rather than weeks, the cheaper bridge is the HELOC you open today; if it's now, at least you'll sign knowing the exact cost of each slow month.