Short-term bridging finance: money now, repaid when the funds land

Bridging is the most honest kind of short-term loan. You already know where the repayment is coming from — you just can’t wait for it. A sold sign is on the lawn but settlement is seven weeks off. The bank has approved your refinance but won’t fund until month’s end. The buyer of your business completes in sixty days, and your supplier wants paying on Thursday. Short-term bridging finance turns that future money into money today.

What is short-term bridging finance?

It’s a business loan secured by property that runs only until a specific, expected payment arrives. When the money lands, the bridge is repaid in full and the security comes off the title.

Three features set it apart:

• A dated exit. The loan exists because a payment is coming; the term is set around that date.
• Property security. It sits over residential or commercial property, from $20,000 to $5,000,000.
• Flexible structure. It can be a first mortgage, a second mortgage, or a caveat loan where the property is in Victoria.

The money funds the business — stock, a tax bill, a contract start-up, a purchase, wages through a slow patch — while you wait for the funds already heading your way.

What gaps can a bridge actually cover?

The common ones we see:

• A property sale that hasn’t settled. Contract signed, cooling-off over, settlement weeks away.
• A property on the market. Not sold yet, but priced sensibly and attracting interest. This needs more equity headroom because the date is less certain.
• A refinance in the pipeline. A bank has approved, but funding is weeks off and a deadline lands sooner.
• A business sale. Completion is set; the funds are needed before then.
• A large receivable. A contract payment, insurance settlement or retention release due on a known date.

If you’re specifically buying premises or a business before you’ve sold, our page on bridging loans for business purchases goes deeper. And if a pending sale is the whole story, waiting on a property sale walks through that scenario.

Which structure carries the bridge?

It comes down to what’s already on the title and where the equity sits.

What’s on the title	Structure that usually carries the bridge
Property being sold has a bank loan you’ll pay out at settlement	Second mortgage behind the bank (caveat loan if it’s in Victoria)
Property being sold is owned outright	First mortgage over that property
Not enough equity in one property alone	First or second mortgages over two properties, one released at settlement
Bank loan needs clearing now, sale proceeds later	First mortgage that pays out the bank and bridges to the sale

For Victorian property, a caveat-based bridge is often the quickest. For property in other states, the short-term registered second mortgage fills the identical role, and it’s usually just as prompt. Our second mortgage page explains how that structure works, and the full short-term comparison shows every option together.

Got a dated payment coming and a bill due before it? Tell us about your gap in about a minute.

How much can you bridge, and how fast?

The amount is set by equity across whatever property is offered, measured as an LVR. When there’s a signed, unconditional contract, lenders can be comfortable getting closer to the sale price; when the property is merely listed, they’ll want a bigger cushion in case it sells for less or takes longer.

On speed, property-secured bridges of $20k to $250k are possible same day, and larger bridges up to $5m are possible within 24–48 hours once the valuation and documents are in. A copy of the sale contract, the agent’s details and the expected settlement date speed things up considerably. Our exit date check helps you test whether your repayment date is realistic before you apply.

What does a bridge look like in real numbers?

Illustrative only — round figures, invented business, no rates quoted.

A Perth manufacturing business owner has sold an investment unit for $700,000 on an unconditional contract, with $250,000 owing to the bank and settlement in eight weeks. Meanwhile a $300,000 production line has to be paid for now to secure a supplier’s delivery slot.

• Equity in the unit at the sale price: $700,000 − $250,000 = $450,000.
• Combined LVR with the bridge: ($250,000 + $300,000) ÷ $700,000 ≈ 79% — higher than many lenders like on one property.
• The fix: the owner’s factory, valued at $900,000 with no debt, is added as security. Across both properties the LVR drops to roughly ($250,000 + $300,000) ÷ $1,600,000 ≈ 34%.
• Exit: at settlement, the bank is paid out, the bridge is repaid from the remaining proceeds, and the factory is released.

Because the unit is in Western Australia, the bridge is written as registered mortgages rather than a caveat — and it moves on a similar timeline.

What if the money at the other end runs late?

Settlements slip, buyers stall and banks re-ask questions. The best protection is agreeing a back-up exit before you sign — for example, a fall-back refinance or a second property that could be sold. If the date moves, speak up early. A short extension or a switch into a different short-term structure is far easier to organise with notice than on the due date. When the bridge is repaid, the mortgage is discharged and, as Land Services Victoria puts it, the reference to it “is removed from the title”.

Bridge the gap — see if you qualify

If the money’s coming but the bill is due first, a short-term bridge is exactly what it’s built for.

Give us about 60 seconds. You won’t face a credit check when you first enquire, and your details aren’t scattered around to a dozen lenders hoping one sticks. A real person reads your situation — the payment you’re waiting on, the property behind it, the deadline in front of it — and gives you a call. Please answer the form as accurately as you can, including the property’s state and the date the money must land, so the first option we put forward is the right one.

Start my bridging enquiry →