What you'll need
- New home price and required down payment
- Current home value and mortgage payoff balance
- Bridge rate, term, and origination points if quoted
- Your lender's combined loan-to-value ceiling
What you'll get
- All-in annual cost — Points and closing costs annualised, not just the rate
- Bridge you qualify for — After the combined-LTV ceiling is applied
- Cash shortfall — If the ceiling caps you below your down payment
- Cash after the sale — Once the bridge and its costs are repaid
Where the Canadian version of this product does not transfer
We also publish a Canadian bridge loan calculator, and it is deliberately a different model rather than the same one in dollars. Four mechanics differ, and two of them change the shape of the arithmetic, not just the constants.
Points, not a flat admin fee
The Canadian calculator adds a flat $350 lender admin fee, which is representative there. US bridge lenders charge origination as a percentage of the loan — commonly 1–3 points — plus separate third-party closing costs. On a short term this is the dominant cost: two points on a six-month bridge is worth about four percentage points of annualised rate on its own, which is why this calculator reports an effective annual cost alongside the note rate.
Months, not days
Canadian bridge financing is typically 30–90 days, because the purchase and the sale both have firm, contracted closing dates and the bridge only spans the overlap. US bridge loans run three to twelve months and are frequently written without a signed sale contract on the departing home at all. The exposure is longer and the interest is charged over months, not days.
Sized against both homes, not just the one you are selling
The Canadian model sizes the bridge from the net proceeds of the departing home. US lenders apply a combined loan-to-value ceiling — commonly 80% — across the departing home AND the new one, counting the new first mortgage as debt. That means a large new mortgage can leave you short of your own down payment even when your departing home has plenty of equity. This calculator solves for that constraint explicitly and tells you the shortfall.
No national commission rate to assume
The Canadian calculator applies a 4% realtor commission automatically. In the US, seller-paid buyer-agent compensation has been negotiated separately since the 2024 National Association of Realtors settlement, and listing fees vary by market, so there is no national rate that can honestly be hardcoded. Selling cost is a user input here.
A worked example
Buying at $650,000 with 20% down, while selling a home worth $480,000 that still carries $210,000 of mortgage. Bridge at 10% for 6 months, 2 points, $2,500 of closing costs, 80% combined-LTV ceiling.
- Down payment needed $130,000; new first mortgage $520,000.
- Ceiling permits $174,000 of bridge, so the full $130,000 is available — the need binds here, not the cap.
- Cost: $2,600 origination + $6,500 interest + $2,500 closing = $11,600.
- That is an all-in 17.85% a year against a 10% note rate.
- After the sale: $241,200 net proceeds, leaving $99,600 once the bridge and its costs are repaid.
Change one thing — a bigger new home, so the new first mortgage is larger — and the ceiling can bind instead, capping the bridge below the down payment and leaving a cash gap even though the departing home still holds six figures of equity. That is the case a net-proceeds model cannot produce, and it is the reason this calculator solves the combined-LTV test explicitly.
How it works
Describe both homes
The new purchase price and down payment, and your current home's value and mortgage balance. A US bridge is tested against both properties, not just the one you are selling.
The combined-LTV ceiling sizes the bridge
Total debt across both homes is capped — commonly 80%. Your new first mortgage counts against it, so what is left underneath is all the bridge you can get. If that is less than your down payment, the shortfall is reported.
Points and closing costs are annualised
Origination and third-party costs are spread over a term measured in months, not years. The result is an all-in annual cost that is usually far above the quoted note rate — that is the number to compare against a HELOC.
What a bridge loan charges, and why the note rate understates it
| Charge | Typical range | How it behaves |
|---|---|---|
| Note rate | 8.5%–12% a year | Accrues over the term. The only figure most quotes lead with. |
| Origination (points) | 1%–3% of the loan | Paid up front, consumed over months. Roughly doubles in annualised terms on a 6-month bridge. |
| Third-party closing costs | appraisal, title, escrow, recording | Does not scale with loan size, so it punishes small bridges hardest. |
| Combined LTV ceiling | 80% across both homes | Not a cost — a cap. Decides whether the bridge covers your down payment at all. |
| Term | 3–12 months | Shorter cuts interest but not fixed costs, so it raises the all-in annual rate. |
Rate and origination ranges: x2 Mortgage, 'Bridge Loan Rates 2026' — 2026 residential bridge rates reported at 8.5%–12%, averaging ~9.5%, with typical borrower deals in the 10%–12% band; NerdWallet notes bridge rates run above a conventional mortgage (read 2026-08-19). Term and combined-LTV: NerdWallet, 'What Is a Bridge Loan and How Does It Work?' — "Terms typically last from three to 12 months." (read 2026-08-19). Third-party closing costs have no published national figure and are a user input on the calculator above, seeded at $2,500 as a placeholder — that seed is ESTIMATED, not quoted.
A bridge loan funds the gap between buying your next home and selling your current one. It is short-term, secured on one or both properties, and priced well above a conventional mortgage — which is the point to keep in view, because the cost is driven by how long you carry it, not by the amount.
Duration, not size, drives what this costs
A bridge loan is priced as a short-dated, higher-risk facility. Interest accrues from day one, and origination is charged up front regardless of how briefly you hold it. So the variable that dominates the total is the number of months between the two closings — the one thing least under your control.
For reference on what "above conventional" means, the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year fixed average at 6.71% and the 15-year at 6.04% for the week ending September 3, 2026. A bridge facility prices above both. We have not published a typical bridge spread here because there is no equivalent published survey for bridge lending — the rate you enter should come from an actual quote, not from a benchmark.
That absence is worth stating plainly rather than papering over with an estimate. Bridge lending is a thin, negotiated market. Two lenders can quote the same borrower very differently, and there is no national average to check either against.
The risk this calculator cannot price
Every bridge loan carries an assumption: that the departing property sells within the term. The arithmetic on this page assumes it does. The risk is what happens if it does not.
- ·You are carrying two properties. Both mortgages, both tax bills, both insurance policies, both utility accounts, for as long as it takes.
- ·Extensions are not free. Where a lender grants one, it usually carries a fee and often a higher rate.
- ·A price cut costs more than the interest. Borrowers under bridge pressure discount to sell. That reduction is frequently larger than the entire cost of the loan, and it does not appear anywhere in this estimate.
- ·Qualification is doubled. You must carry both payments on paper, which is a harder test than the purchase alone.
The honest way to use this page is to run it at a realistic sale timeline and then again at double that, and ask whether the second number is survivable. If it is not, the alternatives — a sale contingency, a delayed closing, or renting between homes — deserve a closer look than the convenience of bridging.
One tax note: IRS Publication 936 limits the home mortgage interest deduction to the first $750,000 of acquisition debt ($375,000 married filing separately). A bridge loan taken alongside an existing mortgage can push combined debt past that, and interest above the limit is not deductible.
Methodology
Costs are computed from the loan amount, rate, term and fees you enter, over the months you specify. This calculator does not assume a bridge rate — there is no published national survey for bridge lending, so the rate must come from your own quote. The conventional mortgage averages quoted for comparison are the Freddie Mac PMMS figures for the week ending September 3, 2026. Deduction limits are from IRS Publication 936.
Sources
- Freddie Mac — Primary Mortgage Market Survey (week ending September 3, 2026) — accessed 2026-09-05
- IRS — Publication 936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction — accessed 2026-09-05
Related Calculators
HELOC Calculator
The usual cheaper alternative — no points, no fixed term. Must be opened before the home is listed.
Closing Costs Calculator
The closing costs on the new purchase itself, separate from the bridge's own fees.
Home Equity Calculator
How much equity the departing home actually holds before selling costs come out.
Cost to Sell a House
What comes out of the sale price, which is what repays the bridge.
About this calculator
How much does a bridge loan actually cost in the US?
Three charges, not one. The note rate on 2026 residential bridge loans is reported around 8.5%–12%. On top of that, origination is charged as points — commonly 1%–3% of the loan — and there are third-party closing costs for an appraisal on the departing home, title, escrow and recording. Because the term is measured in months, the fixed charges do not amortise the way they would on a thirty-year mortgage: a $130,000 bridge for 6 months at 10% with 2 points and $2,500 of closing costs costs $11,600, which is an all-in 17.85% a year. That is the figure to compare against alternatives, not the note rate.
How large a bridge loan can I get?
Lenders typically cap total debt at 80% of the combined value of your current home and the new one. Crucially, the new first mortgage counts against that ceiling alongside your existing mortgage — so only what is left underneath is available as a bridge. This is why a borrower with substantial equity in their departing home can still be told the bridge will not cover their down payment: a large new mortgage can consume the headroom before the bridge is even considered.
How long do US bridge loans last?
Terms typically run from three to twelve months. This is one of the clearest differences from Canadian bridge financing, which usually spans 30 to 90 days because the purchase and sale both have firm contracted closing dates. A US bridge is frequently written before the departing home is under contract at all, so the lender is pricing a longer and less certain exposure.
Is a US bridge loan the same as a Canadian one?
No, and the differences are structural rather than just numerical. Canadian bridge financing is priced off prime plus a spread with a flat lender admin fee of a few hundred dollars; US bridge loans charge origination as points on the loan plus separate closing costs. Canadian terms are measured in days, US terms in months. Canadian lenders size the bridge from the departing home's net sale proceeds; US lenders apply a combined loan-to-value ceiling across both properties. And the Canadian model can assume a roughly 4% realtor commission, whereas US buyer-agent compensation has been negotiated separately since the 2024 National Association of Realtors settlement, so no national rate can honestly be assumed.
What are the alternatives to a bridge loan?
A HELOC drawn on the departing home before it is listed is usually far cheaper, because it carries no origination points and no fixed term — but most lenders will not open one on a home that is already listed, so it has to be arranged early. A cash-out refinance, a sale contingency in the purchase offer, or a rent-back agreement with the buyer of your old home all avoid the bridge entirely. Compare the all-in annual cost this calculator reports against the rate on any of those before committing.