You find it. The coastal home, the light, every specification on the list you wrote three years ago.
There is one condition. To buy it, you have to sell the home you are in.
So the question arrives: can we bridge it? Yes. In this case my clients could have. The finance was there, the lender was comfortable, the purchase would have gone ahead.
Then we ran what the bridge would actually cost them. Over a six month term, more than $50,000.
That figure changes the conversation entirely.
Why? Let’s be clear: that $50,000 is not a fee. It is capital coming off the value of the decision itself. In a market where values have eased and homes are taking longer to sell, I asked them the only question that mattered: are you confident of earning that $50,000 back?
Then the second one: what happens if the sale runs past six months?
That is the part people underestimate. A bridge is priced by two things, how much you carry and how long you carry it. Both are estimates on the day you sign, and only one of them is inside your control.
Bridging finance is a good product. I use it often, for the right clients, with a clear exit and a realistic timeframe. It buys certainty in a sequence that would otherwise be impossible.
What it does not do is answer the bigger question.
Approval tells you the purchase can happen. It does not tell you whether it should. Those are two separate pieces of work, and only one of them shows up on a loan document.
My clients did not proceed. Not because they could not. Because once they saw the real cost sitting next to the real risk, the dream home stopped looking like the right outcome.
Have your facts before you jump in.
If you are weighing up a buy before sell, let's model it properly before you fall in love with a listing.
My Mortgage Concierge is licensed under ACL 392736 Sattout Accounting Services Pty Ltd. General information only — seek personal advice before acting.
