Funding and Interest-Only Costs of a Bridge Loan
See how a bridge loan works when it stacks on top of old debt or pays it off, and when the fee is paid in cash or held back.
What This Calculator Does
How does a bridge loan work on your numbers? This page gives you a quick estimate for short-term bridge financing. The model holds gross principal steady and assumes you cover monthly interest in cash. First, decide whether the secured debts you entered remain in place or the loan clears every one of them. Then decide who covers the fee: you, or the loan. Results sit side by side. You see modeled loan funds, gross capacity and any fee owed out of pocket. Next to them are net cash and the principal you'll owe at exit.
Who Is This For
If you're an owner, buyer or agent holding a specific Florida bridge quote, test it here, using a single property as the collateral. The result is not a loan approval, a verified valuation or a full settlement statement. It also leaves out the cash you need to carry your current property and the new place.
How It Works
Start with the debt treatment and the fee payment choices. Then fill in seven fields: property value, the secured-debt or full-payoff quote, and the lender's LTV. After those come loan amount, yearly rate, fee percentage and whole months. A 0 is fine where the form accepts it. Never type 0 to cover up debt you actually carry. Press Calculate. Now weigh loan funds against the fee you'd pay yourself and your net cash. Funding-gap or over-limit warnings deserve a close look. Know how you'll pay back the full loan. When any figure shifts, get fresh quotes from both the lender and the payoff side.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between keeping existing debt and replacing it?
Keep the old debt and the bridge sits on top of it. Replace it and the bridge clears it. In keep mode, every remaining secured debt the lender counts on that same property stays alongside the bridge. Capacity is value times your LTV, rounded down to the cent, less what you owe. It never drops below 0. In replace mode, the bridge settles every prior obligation you listed, and no lien survives. Capacity equals the gross ceiling you entered, with no payoff subtracted there. The payoff is taken from the loan funds instead. The tool can't model paying off some debt while keeping the rest. It also shows no schedule of future balances.
What if I pay the fee from my own pocket?
Pay the fee yourself, and the modeled loan funds after payoff don't change; the fee appears as cash you owe. Have it withheld instead, and those funds drop by the same fee, with no separate out-of-pocket line. Either way, net cash position equals the loan funds left after the payoff, less the fee. That's the combined cash effect. It may not match a bank wire. The fee choice never moves gross principal or the interest charged on it, and nothing gets stacked on principal for the fee. Charges your lender capitalizes should already sit inside its gross quote. Don't enter them again.
What goes into total cost, and is principal part of it?
Total cost holds just the origination fee you entered and the monthly interest you pay in cash over the hold. Principal isn't in there. You owe the entire bridge amount at exit, and the tool shows it on its own line. Payments and costs on the old loan are excluded. Holding the other property costs money too, and none of that counts here. Prepayment penalties, extension fees and taxes on the loan sit outside the total. Recording fees, title work and other closing charges are excluded as well. An old-loan payoff may come with charges of its own that shrink your funds. Those don't count as bridge costs. And total cost is never the whole cash budget for holding two properties.
If the result comes in under the limit I entered, does that mean I'm approved or have enough money?
No. Being under the limit says nothing about approval or about having enough money. Capacity comes from the collateral value, LTV and debt treatment you entered. The check asks only whether the gross principal you requested fits under it. With replacement, you can fit under capacity and still come up short paying off prior debt or funding a further purchase. When loan funds or net cash position are negative, you need more cash. Those negatives are shortfalls, not negative bank wires. Go over capacity and the cost projection still shows for that hypothetical amount. The amount isn't cut quietly, and it isn't treated as approved. Check lender underwriting and your real cash needs separately.
How are the fee and monthly interest calculated when the loan is counted in whole months?
Type 2.0 and the calculator reads 2 months, not 20. It takes whole months from 1–24. That range is a limit of the form, not a standard bridge term or a Fannie Mae rule. Monthly interest is the yearly rate divided by 12, times the full loan amount, rounded to the nearest cent. The one-time fee is rounded to the nearest cent as well. Total interest is that rounded monthly figure times your months. Rate runs 0%–25%, fee 0%–5% and LTV 0%–100%. You can type four decimals at most in any of them. These limits belong to the form; they aren't market quotes. Daily interest and APR aren't calculated. Neither is deferred or compounding interest, or any principal paydown.
What do I still need to verify elsewhere?
Get the property valuation confirmed. Check every lien now secured on the property, and the amount needed to pay each one off in full. Then confirm the lender's LTV, the loan amount, how the fee gets paid and your exit date. If the amount or timing moves, ask for fresh quotes, because this tool won't reprice anything. For background, CFPB explains what a mortgage costs, and Fannie Mae publishes guidance on bridge and swing loans. Neither one speaks to your own offer. Your lender may weigh the payments on your current home, the new one and the bridge at once. There's no DTI or approval math here. Amounts are capped at $2 billion each. Any result past $10 billion won't display. Both limits come from the calculator itself. Other costs stay outside it. Whether you have enough cash is its own question. So is paying the loan back in full when you exit.