A bridge loan ( using your home for a down payment to purchase another) can be a useful financial tool for several reasons:
- Facilitates Home Purchase Before Sale: If you’re buying a new home but haven’t sold your current one yet, a bridge loan can provide the funds needed for the down payment on the new property. This allows you to move forward with the purchase without waiting for your current home to sell.
- Covers Temporary Financial Gaps: Bridge loans can help cover temporary gaps in financing. For example, if you need to make repairs or improvements to your current home to increase its market value before selling, a bridge loan can provide the necessary funds.
- Avoids Contingency Clauses: In competitive real estate markets, sellers may be less willing to accept offers with contingency clauses (e.g., the sale is contingent on the buyer selling their current home). A bridge loan can eliminate the need for such clauses, making your offer more attractive.
- Flexibility in Moving: With a bridge loan, you can move into your new home before selling your old one, reducing the stress and logistical challenges of moving.
- Potential for Better Financing Terms: By using a bridge loan to secure your new home, you might be able to negotiate better financing terms for your long-term mortgage, as you won’t be under pressure to sell your current home quickly.
- When your loan is approved, Closing in Less than 15 days.
- Your new mortgage with Guild Mortgage comes with much better interest rates and lower mortgage payments than your average rates based on your credit score.
- Conventional Financing: You will be eligible to recast your mortgage after 6 months of mortgage payments on your new home. What is recasting? Click Here
- HOT! FHA Seller: As of 04/24/2026, we now offer FHA Bridge Loans with 620 credit scores - Using the higher of three scores.
Buying a New Home Before Selling the Current One
Scenario:
A borrower finds their dream home, but hasn’t sold their current house yet.
How the bridge loan helps:
- Use up to 75-80% of the home equity ( minus the first mortgage amount) from the current home for the down payment on the new home
- Allows you to buy first, sell later
- No mortgage payments on your current home, or no monthly payment on the bridge loan.
- The fee of 2.2% is paid on the day you sell your home. Details and costs will be provided.
- There is NO interest rate on the Bridge Loan
Outcome
You don’t miss out on the new home due to timing. Short-term solution (typically 3–6 months, until your home is sold)
Easier to qualify and less stress
Let’s say your home is worth $500,000. With a bridge loan, you may be able to access up to 75% of that value, or about $375,000.
After paying off your current mortgage balance of $200,000, you could have around $175,000 available to use toward the down payment on your next home.
You can tap into your home equity now—so you can buy your next home before selling your current one.