Private lending

Bridging finance for Australian property

Short-dated, property-secured finance for the gap between a settlement and a sale, a refinance or a planning event.

Short answer

Bridging finance is short-dated property lending that covers the gap between two events, most often a purchase that has to settle before a sale completes. Archer Wealth writes it, for business and investment purposes, against residential, commercial and land security, through the broker channel. The loan is secured by a registered mortgage, sized to a documented exit, and repaid when that exit lands. Interest is usually capitalised, so nothing is serviced during the bridge. The mechanics of bridging finance in Australia are set out in full in the explainer. What decides a file is the exit: whether it is evidenced and achievable inside the term. Income is assessed where interest is serviced monthly rather than capitalised.

What Archer lends against, and to what LVR

Archer lends against residential, commercial and vacant land security, and the LVR ceiling moves with which of the three the bridge sits on. A bridging facility is written as a registered first mortgage in most cases, and as a second mortgage where an existing first is worth keeping. The bands below are the published card, and they apply across the branded suite rather than being set product by product.

Security	Standard delegation	With credit committee sign-off	Indicative rate from
Residential	to 75% LVR	to 80% LVR	7.99% p.a.
Commercial	to 70% LVR	to 75% LVR	7.99% p.a.
Vacant land	to 65% LVR	to 75% LVR	8.99% p.a.

Standard delegation is the band a file is written in without escalation. The higher band is available with credit committee sign-off. All pricing is indicative and subject to credit approval.

Two boundaries are worth naming before a client is taken through an application. Facilities start at $250,000 for a first mortgage and $100,000 for a second. The book runs to a maximum term of 24 months, with 36 months by exception, and a bridge is normally written far shorter than that because it is sized to the exit rather than to the ceiling.

How fast a bridging file settles

A bridging file settles within 5 business days on a clean package, and indicative terms come back the same business day. The stages below are the ones that actually consume the calendar. What moves the date is rarely credit. It is the valuation booking, the legals, and on a second mortgage the first mortgagee's consent.

Scenario in, indicative terms out
Same business day on a scenario with a security address, a loan amount and a described exit.
Formal submission and credit approval
Two to five days from submission to a letter of offer, faster where the file arrives complete.
Valuation and legals
A full valuation from an approved panel valuer, and documents through a warehouse-approved law firm. These run in parallel, not in sequence.
Settlement
Within 5 business days on cleaner files across the standard suite. Complex files run one to three weeks.

A fuller account of how long a bridging loan takes to settle walks through each stage and what delays it, including the documents that most often hold a file up.

What bridging finance costs

Bridging finance costs an interest rate set by security type and LVR, an establishment fee on the facility, and the third party costs of valuation, legals and discharge. Interest is usually capitalised, which means the cost is a function of how long the bridge actually runs rather than of the headline rate alone. A bridge that clears in four months on a contracted sale costs a fraction of the same facility carried for a year.

Rather than restate the numbers here, where they would drift out of date, the full card of pricing by security and LVR is published in one place and kept current. To model a specific file, the bridging loan calculator takes a loan amount and a term and returns the total cost of carry. All pricing is indicative and subject to credit approval.

Why the exit is underwritten before the entry

The exit is underwritten before the entry because on a bridging file the exit is the repayment, not the borrower's income. A bank assesses whether a borrower can service a loan for twenty five years. A bridging assessment asks a narrower question: what specific event repays this facility, what evidences it, and what happens to the timetable if it slips.

In practice that means a contract of sale rather than an appraisal, a term sheet rather than an intention to refinance, and a term sized with contingency built in rather than sized to the best case. The reasoning behind we underwrite the exit before the entry sets out how that assessment is run and what evidence carries weight.

When a bridging loan is not the answer

A bridging loan is not the answer on four recurring file shapes, and a broker is better served by hearing that before a client is put through an application.

Four files where bridging is the wrong tool

There is no documented exit. An intention to sell is not an exit. Without a contract, a term sheet or a defined business event, the file is difficult under any short-dated structure.

The need is a term loan wearing a bridge. Where the capital is required for years rather than months, a bridge priced for speed is the expensive way to fund it.

The purpose is consumer credit. Lending regulated under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, a family buying a home to live in, is outside what Archer writes. A broker with an NCCP file is better served elsewhere, and that is a faster answer than an application.

The existing first mortgage should stay. Where a fixed first is worth keeping, a second mortgage behind it usually beats refinancing the whole position to fund a bridge.

A file we settled

The two files below are the same problem in two forms: a settlement date that would not wait for a sale. One is a transaction that settled, the other is the scenario written out from the broker's side.

Settled, $2.3m in 5 days

Eastern Suburbs Sydney, settled before sale

Auction exchange on a Bondi home with an unconditional date four weeks out, against a Bronte sale settling four weeks later. First mortgage over the exit asset, six-month term, interest capitalised and cleared at the sale.

Scenario

Bridging before a property sale

How the same file is packaged from the broker's side: what to send, what credit asks for, and how the exit is evidenced.

The questions brokers ask about bridging

What is bridging finance used for?

Bridging finance covers a timing gap between two property events. The common file is a purchase that has to settle before an existing property sells. It is also used to refinance out of an expiring facility, to hold a site through a planning decision, or to settle an acquisition before separate funding lands.

Does Archer Wealth write bridging loans?

Yes, for business and investment purposes, through the broker channel, secured by a registered mortgage over residential, commercial or land security. Archer Flex is the branded bridging product. Consumer-purpose lending regulated under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act sits outside what Archer writes.

How long does a bridging loan take to settle?

Indicative terms typically come back the same business day. Settlement, including valuation and legals, lands within 5 business days on cleaner files. Files that need first mortgagee consent or complex legals take longer, and the consent step is usually what governs the timetable.

Is interest serviced or capitalised on a bridging loan?

Most private bridging files capitalise interest. The lender adds accrued interest to the balance and the borrower pays it at exit, which suits a borrower who is carrying two properties and has no spare cashflow during the bridge. Monthly servicing is available where the file supports it and is the cheaper structure over a longer term. A serviced facility is a cash-paying loan, so it carries the income checks that go with one: an accountant's letter and a serviceability assessment.

What happens if the sale does not settle in time?

The exit is stress-tested before the loan is written, and the term is sized with contingency for exactly this reason. Where an exit slips but is still in train, an extension or restructure is assessed on the file. One extension is permitted with a full re-underwrite. An exit that was never realistic is declined at the start rather than managed later.

Can bridging sit behind an existing first mortgage?

Sometimes. Where the existing first mortgage is worth keeping, a second mortgage can release the capital without disturbing it, subject to the first mortgagee's consent and to the combined LVR ceiling. Where the first is being repaid anyway, a first mortgage bridge is the cleaner and better priced structure.

About Archer Wealth. Archer Wealth is an Australian private lender providing short-term, real estate-backed first and second mortgage loans for business and investment purposes. AFSL 548263 is held by Archer Wealth Capital Pty Ltd and can be verified on ASIC's professional registers.

Risk and exit strategy. Private lending facilities are short-dated and require a credible documented exit (sale, refinance, or business event). Borrowers should consider the cost of the facility against the value of the transaction, and plan the exit at entry. Property-secured lending carries the risk of loss of the security on default.

General information only. The information on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not personal advice. Loans are subject to credit assessment and approval. Speak with your accredited broker or seek independent professional advice before acting on any information here.

Submit a scenario

Send the security address, the loan amount and the exit. Indicative terms come back the same business day, and a BDM reads every file.

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