A bridging loan funds the purchase of your next home before the sale of your current one settles. The lender calculates peak debt, being both properties plus costs, then an end debt figure once the sale completes. You generally pay interest only during the bridging period, and on many products that interest is capitalised rather than paid monthly.

Bridging terms usually run six months for an existing home and up to twelve months for a build. Most lenders want the outgoing property listed, and some want a contract in place.

It comes up often around Springwood, Daisy Hill and Shailer Park, where owners upgrading within Logan want to secure the next place before releasing the family home into a competitive market.

If the timing is tight, the alternative is a longer settlement negotiated at contract. We compare both. Call 1800 774 756 or see the upsizing page.

Lenders assess your capacity to carry peak debt, so equity in the outgoing property does most of the work. As a rough guide, combined borrowing is generally kept to around 80% of the two properties together, though policy varies more here than on a standard loan.

Servicing is where applicants get caught. Some lenders assess you against end debt only, which is far more achievable. Others assess against peak debt for the whole bridging term, and that single policy difference decides whether the purchase happens.

Because Logan values have moved over recent years, plenty of owners in the established northern suburbs hold more equity than they assume, particularly anyone who bought before the last cycle.

We identify which lenders assess on end debt before anything is lodged. Check your position with the borrowing power calculator.

Buying first removes the risk of selling and having nowhere to go, and it lets you take your time on the purchase. The cost is carrying two loans for a period, and accepting whatever the market gives you on the sale.

Selling first fixes your budget exactly and removes bridging cost entirely, but it puts you on someone else's settlement clock. Renting between the two is the usual fallback and it is rarely cheap once you add moving and storage twice over.

In a Logan market where well-priced stock near the Beenleigh and Loganlea lines moves quickly, buying first is the more common choice among upgraders. In a slower stretch it is the riskier one.

There is no default answer, so we work through your actual timing and tolerance for the overlap rather than pushing the product. Book a free chat.

Interest continues to accrue on peak debt, and if the bridging term expires the lender can move the loan to a higher rate or require the property to be sold. This is the main risk of the structure and it deserves a straight answer before you commit.

Practical protection comes from pricing realistically at the outset rather than testing the market for six weeks and then reducing. Most bridging trouble starts with an optimistic asking price, not with the finance.

Build a buffer into the term as well. Ask for the longer bridging period even if you expect a quick sale, because extending later is harder than not needing the extra months.

We stress-test the numbers against a slower sale so you know the downside before you sign, not after. Call 1800 774 756.