A bridge loan is a loan that a person (or sometimes a business) takes out for only a short time–no longer than one year. The purpose of the bridge loan, or bridging finance, is to give the borrower needed cash until he secures a more long term loan or receives funding. The immediate cash flow that is provided by the bridging finance allows the borrower to meet current financial obligations while a deal or contract is still in process or being negotiated.
Bridge loans have high interest rates and need to be backed by collateral. What they do, as their name suggests, is to bridge the gap between a time when the borrower has the more permanent loan or financing that he’s seeking and the present with its immediate financial needs. Bridging finance is used in many different financial situations.
Business owners may apply for bridge loans to finance their needed working capital for an investment while their equity financing deal is still in the process, which usually take several months to complete.
People commonly use bridge loans when they are selling a home. There can be times when the real estate market in a given area is moving slowly, or there can be a home that is proving a hard sell. The owners of the home who are selling the house and want to move may take out a bridge loan so that they can pay their utility and food bills, as well as other financial obligations, while they await the sale of their home and the proceeds that they get from that. Or they may use the bridging finance as “chain breaking”, meaning they purchase an already-desired new house while they are still awaiting the sale of their current house.
Another use for bridge loans is to repair one’s credit. A person may borrow the money needed to pay off creditors so as to increase one’s credit score, making it more probable that one can then get a larger, more permanent loan or be able to be approved to rent a new apartment. People also use bridge loans when they are in between jobs but fully expect to be hired very soon or are just waiting to start. Along those same lines, these types of loans may be used to finance a relocation for work related purposes.
Bridging finance can often be acquired in just 24 hours, as the high interest rate, short duration, and collateral backing alleviate the need for extensive background checks and risk consideration.
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