Financing Solutions - Bridge Loan

Michael Hallett • November 28, 2016
The fast pace of buying and selling real estate is daunting. Throw in trying to manage closing dates, possession dates and access to the proceeds for the purchase and you have a recipe for disaster.

I recently received an email from a potential client asking these very questions:

"I was wondering how the process usually goes, for looking at a new place. We had planned to use our equity in this home as the down payment for a new place. But if we can’t unlock that equity until the closing date, what usually happens in the interim?  Do we have to find a place to rent?...a month or longer? When we bought this place, it was our first home purchase, so moving to a new one is new to us. I don’t understand how we are supposed to start looking for a place after subject removal (which is 30 days after tomorrow), when we can’t access the equity to make a down payment."

This scenario happens much more often than one thinks. In order for sellers to access their equity to become buyers they are required to utilize a bridge loan to transition into their “next” home. The bridge loan allows you to purchase a new property before the sale completes on the existing or current residence.

Most lenders have a 45 – 60-day window to exercise this option, with a range of daily rates and admin fees. The four vital components to a mortgage application are income, credit worthiness, the subject property and down payment.

The first three have been approved; now how does one unlock the down payment? Easy. The borrower is required to supply the fully executed purchase and sale contract, subject removal addendum and the current mortgage statement for the existing property. This provides confirmation that you have sold the property on X date as well it confirming the sale price less the possible real estate commission fees and closing costs. Once the current mortgage amount is subtracted the net proceeds are yielded, leaving you your down payment amount.

As mentioned above, there are fees to access bridge financing, as well as a daily interest rate. If the purchase of the next property completes the same day as the sale, then it is handled at the lawyer’s office internally and the funds are transferred accordingly.

The equity is yours to access right now. The lenders verify your equity with the conditions provided.

Here is an example of the timeline and fees of how the bridge loan scenario can be utilized:

Existing home sold, completing December 14, 2016 $600,000

Current outstanding balance $400,000

Equity remaining $200,000

New home purchase, completing November 30, 2016

The lender has approved the down-payment amount. Because the proceeds are still secured against the existing home we had to provide confirmation that the funds were available. We determined there was $200,000 by way of sales contract, subject removal addendum and the current mortgage statement.

The second layer to the bridge loan is the cost of borrowing the $200,000. Bear in mind the funds are still tied up in the existing property. The cost to borrow the $200,000 temporarily is Prime + 2% (daily rate) plus an administration fee of $250.

$200,000 x 4.70% / 365 (days) = $25.76 per day to borrow $200,000

There is a 14-day completion difference. The total cost to utilize a bridge loan is $360.64 (in interest) + $250 (admin fee) = $610.64.

All-in-all this is a very inexpensive and easy way to access the equity you have built up in your current home. Remember, lenders are in business of making money...this is simply a cost of doing business.

Be sure to surround yourself with industry professionals to make sure nothing is overlooked or miscalculated.

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MICHAEL HALLETT
Mortgage Broker

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By Michael Hallett July 30, 2025
Bank of Canada holds policy rate at 2¾%. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Relations Ottawa, Ontario July 30, 2025 The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 2.75%, with the Bank Rate at 3% and the deposit rate at 2.70%.  While some elements of US trade policy have started to become more concrete in recent weeks, trade negotiations are fluid, threats of new sectoral tariffs continue, and US trade actions remain unpredictable. Against this backdrop, the July Monetary Policy Report (MPR) does not present conventional base case projections for GDP growth and inflation in Canada and globally. Instead, it presents a current tariff scenario based on tariffs in place or agreed as of July 27, and two alternative scenarios—one with an escalation and another with a de-escalation of tariffs. While US tariffs have created volatility in global trade, the global economy has been reasonably resilient. In the United States, the pace of growth moderated in the first half of 2025, but the labour market has remained solid. US CPI inflation ticked up in June with some evidence that tariffs are starting to be passed on to consumer prices. The euro area economy grew modestly in the first half of the year. In China, the decline in exports to the United States has been largely offset by an increase in exports to the rest of the world. Global oil prices are close to their levels in April despite some volatility. Global equity markets have risen, and corporate credit spreads have narrowed. Longer-term government bond yields have moved up. Canada’s exchange rate has appreciated against a broadly weaker US dollar. The current tariff scenario has global growth slowing modestly to around 2½% by the end of 2025 before returning to around 3% over 2026 and 2027. In Canada, US tariffs are disrupting trade but overall, the economy is showing some resilience so far. After robust growth in the first quarter of 2025 due to a pull-forward in exports to get ahead of tariffs, GDP likely declined by about 1.5% in the second quarter. This contraction is mostly due to a sharp reversal in exports following the pull-forward, as well as lower US demand for Canadian goods due to tariffs. Growth in business and household spending is being restrained by uncertainty. Labour market conditions have weakened in sectors affected by trade, but employment has held up in other parts of the economy. The unemployment rate has moved up gradually since the beginning of the year to 6.9% in June and wage growth has continued to ease. A number of economic indicators suggest excess supply in the economy has increased since January. In the current tariff scenario, after contracting in the second quarter, GDP growth picks up to about 1% in the second half of this year as exports stabilize and household spending increases gradually. In this scenario, economic slack persists in 2026 and diminishes as growth picks up to close to 2% in 2027. In the de-escalation scenario, economic growth rebounds faster, while in the escalation scenario, the economy contracts through the rest of this year. CPI inflation was 1.9% in June, up slightly from the previous month. Excluding taxes, inflation rose to 2.5% in June, up from around 2% in the second half of last year. This largely reflects an increase in non-energy goods prices. High shelter price inflation remains the main contributor to overall inflation, but it continues to ease. Based on a range of indicators, underlying inflation is assessed to be around 2½%. In the current tariff scenario, total inflation stays close to 2% over the scenario horizon as the upward and downward pressures on inflation roughly offset. There are risks around this inflation scenario. As the alternative scenarios illustrate, lower tariffs would reduce the direct upward pressure on inflation and higher tariffs would increase it. In addition, many businesses are reporting costs related to sourcing new suppliers and developing new markets. These costs could add upward pressure to consumer prices. With still high uncertainty, the Canadian economy showing some resilience, and ongoing pressures on underlying inflation, Governing Council decided to hold the policy interest rate unchanged. We will continue to assess the timing and strength of both the downward pressures on inflation from a weaker economy and the upward pressures on inflation from higher costs related to tariffs and the reconfiguration of trade. If a weakening economy puts further downward pressure on inflation and the upward price pressures from the trade disruptions are contained, there may be a need for a reduction in the policy interest rate. Governing Council is proceeding carefully, with particular attention to the risks and uncertainties facing the Canadian economy. These include: the extent to which higher US tariffs reduce demand for Canadian exports; how much this spills over into business investment, employment and household spending; how much and how quickly cost increases from tariffs and trade disruptions are passed on to consumer prices; and how inflation expectations evolve. We are focused on ensuring that Canadians continue to have confidence in price stability through this period of global upheaval. We will support economic growth while ensuring inflation remains well controlled. Information note The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is September 17, 2025. Read the July 30th., 2025 Monetary Report
By Michael Hallett July 23, 2025
When looking to qualify for a mortgage, typically, a lender will want to review four areas of your mortgage application: income, credit, downpayment/equity and the property itself. Assuming you have a great job, excellent credit, and sufficient money in the bank to qualify for a mortgage, if the property you’re looking to purchase isn’t in good condition, if you don't have a plan, you might get some pushback from the lender. The property matters to the lender because they hold it as collateral if you default on your mortgage. As such, you can expect that a lender will make every effort to ensure that any property they finance is in good repair. Because in the rare case that you happen to default on your mortgage, they want to know that if they have to repossess, they can sell the property quickly and recoup their money. So when assessing the property as part of any mortgage transaction, an appraisal is always required to establish value. If your mortgage requires default mortgage insurance through CMHC, Sagen (formerly Genworth), or Canada Guaranty, they’ll likely use an automated system to appraise the property where the assessment happens online. A physical appraisal is required for conventional mortgage applications, which means an appraiser will assess the property on-site. So why is this important to know? Well, because even if you have a great job, excellent credit, and money in the bank, you shouldn’t assume that you’ll be guaranteed mortgage financing. A preapproval can only take you so far. Once the mortgage process has started, the lender will always assess the property you’re looking to purchase. Understanding this ahead of time prevents misunderstandings and will bring clarity to the mortgage process. Practically applied, if you’re attempting to buy a property in a hot housing market and you go in with an offer without a condition of financing, once the appraisal is complete, if the lender isn’t satisfied with the state or value of the property, you could lose your deposit. Now, what happens if you’d like to purchase a property that isn’t in the best condition? Being proactive includes knowing that there is a purchase plus improvements program that can allow you to buy a property and include some of the cost of the renovations in the mortgage. It’s not as simple as just increasing the mortgage amount and then getting the work done, there’s a process to follow, but it’s very doable. So if you have any questions about financing your next property or potentially using a purchase plus improvements to buy a property that needs a little work, please connect anytime. It would be a pleasure to walk you through the process.