Buyer · Bridge Financing
Move-up Coquitlam buyers often face a timing gap: your new purchase closes before your current home sale. Bridge financing covers the gap. Here's the verified read on how it works in BC.
Quick Answer
What should you know about Bridge Financing Coquitlam Buyers?
Move-up Coquitlam buyers often face a timing gap: your new purchase closes before your current home sale. Bridge financing covers the gap. Here Craig Johnston, Top 1% Team Member — Greater Vancouver REALTORS® and 47+ year Tri-Cities resident, can walk you through the local context. Free Strategy Call ends with a written one-page plan in 24 hours.
Verified · Buyer · Bridge Financing
What it is
Short-term loan from your lender to bridge the gap between buying your new home and selling your current one. Funds the down payment on the new home using the equity in your old home.
Typical duration
30-90 days. Some lenders allow up to 120 days.
Cost
Bridge loan interest typically 1-3% above your mortgage rate. Plus a flat administration fee ($200-$500).
Eligibility
Most lenders require: a firm sale on your old home (subjects removed) before approving bridge financing. Some lenders may approve based on listing alone but with stricter terms.
Maximum amount
Typically capped at 75-80% of your old home's appraised value, minus existing mortgage balance, equals the bridgeable equity.
Closing dates needed
Your lender wants to see both closing dates clearly: new home closes (you take bridge loan) → old home closes (bridge loan paid off from sale proceeds).
Risk
If your old home sale collapses after the bridge loan is funded, you're carrying both mortgages. Have a back-up plan: longer-term financing, family loan, lower-priced new purchase.
Alternative: subject-to-sale offer
Instead of bridging, you can write your new offer subject to the sale of your existing home. Sellers may accept with a 'time clause' (24-72 hr right of first refusal if they get another offer). Less reliable in hot markets.
Talk to your mortgage broker
Bridge structure varies by lender. Compare 2-3 lenders before committing.
No pressure. No obligation. Just a 30-minute call to talk through your specific situation.
When you are buying your next home before the sale of your current one has funded, bridge financing is often what makes the timing work. Here is how it actually functions.
What it is
A bridge loan covers the short window between buying your next home and receiving the proceeds from selling your current one, so you are not forced to line the two closing dates up perfectly.
When you'd use it
It is most common in a move-up: you have found the next home and need to complete on it before your sale funds arrive. The bridge carries you across that overlap for a short period.
What lenders want
Lenders typically require a firm, subject-free sale on your existing home before extending a bridge, and the amount available is tied to the equity you have built. Specific terms vary from lender to lender.
What it costs
Bridge loans are brief and usually carry a higher interest rate plus an administration or setup fee. Because the term is measured in days or weeks, the total dollar cost is often modest — but confirm the figures with your lender.
The main risk
If your existing sale collapses, you can be left carrying two properties at once. That exposure is why lenders lean on a firm sale first and why the structure of both deals deserves care.
For you
Bridge financing can turn a stressful sell-and-buy into a manageable one, but it is fundamentally a mortgage-professional conversation about your numbers and timing.
Every bridge situation turns on your own equity, the firmness of your sale and your lender's specific rules, so treat the points above as orientation rather than a quote.
Craig regularly coordinates move-up timing between buyers and their lenders so the overlap between selling and buying is planned in advance — not improvised in the final week.
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