A bridge loan is approved on four things: the property, the equity under the loan, the exit that repays it and a borrower who clears a short list of published minimums. Here is that list as we apply it. We are a direct lender headquartered in San Diego, and California and Arizona are our home markets. The terms quoted are the ones published on our program pages in September 2026.
If you are new to the product, start with how bridge loans work. For our other programs, see the broader hard money loan requirements in California. This post covers the bridge only: what we check, what you bring and how the loan ends.
Bridge loan requirements: what a direct lender checks
Here is the list, built from the published terms of our bridge program.
- Credit score: 650 minimum.
- Leverage: up to 75% loan-to-value on residential property and 70% on commercial property.
- Loan size: $150,000 to $25,000,000.
- Term: 1 or 2 years.
- Occupancy: non-owner occupied. The property is an investment, not the home you live in.
- Experience: none required on the residential bridge. The large balance bridge asks for comparable experience.
- Prepayment: no prepayment penalty.
- Exit: a sale or a refinance you can support with evidence.
Every rate, term and price here is subject to change, and every loan is subject to underwriting. Clearing the list gets a file into underwriting. It does not guarantee approval.
Beyond the minimums, underwriting reads the property’s value and condition today, the title and any loan being paid off, and your liquidity: cash for the equity, the closing costs and the interest while you hold the loan. Documentation is published as minimal, because a bridge loan is sized on the property and the exit rather than on your income.
How much equity the leverage cap implies
Loan-to-value is the loan divided by the property’s value, so a 75% cap means at least 25% of the value comes from you, and a 70% cap means at least 30%. A worked example, for illustration only:
- Residential. A 2-4 unit property bought and valued at $800,000. At 75%, the largest loan is $600,000, so you bring at least $200,000.
- Commercial. A retail building bought and valued at $1,600,000. At 70%, the largest loan is $1,120,000, so you bring at least $480,000.
Three things move those numbers. The value comes from an appraisal or, where appropriate, a broker price opinion, so if the $800,000 property values at $760,000, the loan at 75% is $570,000 and your share rises to $230,000. Points and closing costs sit on top of the equity. And the cap is a ceiling: leverage can be set below it when the property or the exit calls for it. On a refinance or a cash-out, the new loan, including the payoff of any existing loan, has to fit under the same cap.
The exit you must show, and how it is judged
Every bridge loan is repaid by something else, and a 1 or 2 year term puts a date on it. We underwrite the exit as carefully as the property.
A sale is judged on closed comparable sales for the property as you will sell it, in the same area and at the same finish level, with time to market it and selling costs inside the term. Listings are not evidence.
A refinance is judged on whether the property will qualify for the long-term loan on the day you need it: the takeout lender’s leverage cap and, for a rental, its test of the rent against the new payment. Our rental property program publishes up to 80% LTV and a 620 minimum credit score, and our commercial program up to 70% LTV. Check the timing too, because some long-term programs require a period of ownership or rental history first.
Test both exits before you sign the purchase contract. With no prepayment penalty, an early sale or refinance costs nothing beyond the interest already earned. Our post on the hard money exit strategy walks through both tests.
Which properties qualify, product by product
Six bridge structures share the program’s published terms. The property and the situation decide which one fits.
- The core bridge loan: SFR, condo and townhome, and 2-4 units, for a clean non-owner occupied file, no experience required.
- Hard money residential bridge: the same residential types for a file with a default, a notice of default, a matured loan or a bailout, weighed against the equity above the 650 floor.
- Interest-only bridge: SFR, condo and townhome, 2-4 units and PUDs, with interest-only payments.
- Small balance bridge: multifamily, office, industrial, retail and SFR, no experience required, with money for post-close rehab where the deal calls for it.
- Large balance bridge: multifamily, mixed use, industrial and retail, for construction, transitional financing and major rehabilitation, and the one structure that requires comparable experience.
- Hard money commercial bridge: retail, office, industrial, multifamily, mixed use and land, for commercial files with a default or a matured loan.
Business purpose or consumer purpose
The classification turns on what the money is for. A bridge loan whose proceeds buy, refinance or improve a property you do not live in is a business purpose loan, and that is how our bridge program is written. Federal Truth in Lending rules, Regulation Z, exempt credit extended primarily for a business, commercial or agricultural purpose. The official interpretation treats credit to acquire, improve or maintain a rental property the owner does not occupy as business purpose, unless the owner expects to occupy it for more than 14 days in the coming year.
A homeowner buying the next home before selling the current one is a consumer borrower, and our owner occupied bridge is built for that. Its published terms: from 10.50%, up to 70% of the purchase price, 11 and 12 month terms and a $500,000 minimum, in California, Oregon, Arizona, Utah and Florida. The exit must be a refinance into a conventional or jumbo loan within 12 months, and income is qualified by W-2, 1099, P&L or bank statements. Our post on business purpose vs consumer purpose loans covers the edge cases.
What a bridge loan costs
The price has three parts. The rate: our published bridge range is 9.00% to 13.00%, and a file lands inside it according to the leverage, the property, the credit and the exit. The points: an origination charge paid at closing, quoted per deal. And the fees: the lender’s own, plus third-party costs such as the appraisal or broker price opinion, title, escrow and recording.
As an illustration only, interest-only on the $600,000 example loan is $4,500 a month at 9.00% and $6,500 a month at 13.00%. With no prepayment penalty, you pay for the months you hold the loan and no others.
Points and third-party costs vary by file, so ask any lender for the whole cost in writing and compare totals over your expected hold, not rates. The pricing guide shows how the parts assemble.
How long approval and closing take
Our standard process closes in 5 to 7 days once the file is complete, and as fast as 3 days on a clean file. The bridge program’s published range is 3 to 14 days. There are four steps: the application, the documents, a signed letter of intent that fixes the terms, then processing and closing.
What stretches a file is rarely the credit decision. It is a title issue found late, a valuation that has to be revisited or a document that arrives in week two, so send the purchase contract or payoff statement, the property details and proof of funds on day one.
The owner occupied bridge runs on a different clock: consumer rules add disclosures and waiting periods, so its timeline is set once the application is complete. Investor bridge loans are written from our San Diego office across the state; see where we lend in California.
Do banks do bridge loans?
Some do. A bank bridge loan is generally underwritten the way the bank underwrites its other loans: your income, your credit, your existing debts and its own approval process. That can suit a homeowner with time and a file that fits the bank’s rules.
It suits the situations bridge loans exist for less well: a property in a condition a bank will not lend on, a seller who wants to close in days, or an investor whose tax returns understate what the property can carry. A direct lender reads the property and the exit first and decides in house. Whoever you use, ask who approves the file and how long that takes before you sign a contract with a deadline in it.
Start with the property and the exit
Tell us the property, the price or the payoff, your timeline and how the loan gets repaid, and we will tell you which bridge structure fits and what you need to close. Start on the bridge loan program, or on San Diego bridge loans if the property is in our home county, send a loan request or call (619) 617-2797.
