How Fix-and-Flip Bridge Loans Actually Work: 90% LTC, 10-15 Day Close, and What Lenders Really Read

If you have ever had a bank kill a fix-and-flip deal because of your tax return, your DTI, or your “two-year self-employed” history, you already know the punchline: a conventional bank is the wrong tool for a 90-day flip. Bridge lenders exist for this exact reason, and the mechanics are very different from a 30-year mortgage. This guide walks through what fix-and-flip bridge financing actually is, how lenders underwrite the deal instead of you, what the numbers look like, and how an investor closes in 10-15 days instead of waiting six weeks for an underwriter to “circle back.”

What a fix-and-flip bridge loan really is

A fix-and-flip bridge loan is short-term, asset-based capital used to acquire and rehab a property the investor intends to resell within 6-18 months. Terms are typically 12 months, interest-only, with origination points paid at closing and a rehab budget funded through a controlled draw schedule. The collateral is the property itself, with the investor’s experience and basic financial standing as a secondary factor. The point of the product is speed and leverage on the deal, not the investor’s W-2.

What the loan-to-cost and ARV numbers really mean

Two ratios drive a fix-and-flip approval:

• LTC (loan-to-cost): the percentage of “purchase price plus rehab” the lender will finance. Best-case bridge programs go up to 90% LTC, which means the investor brings as little as 10% to the table on the combined deal cost.
• ARV (after-repair value): the appraised value once the rehab is complete. Bridge programs typically cap total loan exposure at 65-75% of ARV, which is the lender’s downside protection if the resale takes longer than planned.

The fast read: if your deal makes sense on both LTC and ARV, you are financeable. If it only makes sense on one, that is the conversation to have with a broker before you waste time submitting.

What lenders actually read before they fund

This is where most investors waste cycles. Bridge underwriters read four things, in this order:

1. The deal. Purchase price, rehab scope, ARV with real comps, exit plan.
2. The asset. Photos, condition, neighborhood, days-on-market for comparable resales.
3. The investor’s track record. How many flips, how recent, what state.
4. Basic borrower standing. Background, basic liquidity to cover the down payment plus a few months of interest reserve.

Notice what is not on that list: a personal tax return, a DTI ratio, or a W-2. That is the actual reason a flip deal that a bank declined will fund through a bridge lender. See if your deal qualifies in about 2 minutes.

Why the calendar is the real cost

Take a $400K acquisition with an $80K rehab and a 90-day target flip. Holding costs at roughly 1% of purchase per month run about $4K monthly between insurance, utilities, and interest. Every two weeks you sit unfunded, you are burning a meaningful chunk of your gross spread before the contractor even starts framing.

That is why “I can close in 10-15 days” is not marketing copy. It is the entire economic justification for the bridge product over a traditional mortgage. The interest rate on a bridge loan is higher than a conventional 30-year, but the loan is only on the books for 6-9 months, and the investor recovers the speed premium on the back end by selling sooner.

How the draw schedule works

Rehab money does not get handed over at closing. It funds in tranches called draws, tied to verified completion of scope items: demo, rough plumbing and electrical, drywall, finish work, final. The investor or general contractor submits a draw request with photos and invoices, an inspector or remote draw service verifies progress, and the lender wires the next tranche. This is what protects the investor and the lender from a runaway budget.

Who this product is actually for

• Real estate investors doing fix-and-flip rehabs on single-family or 1-4 unit properties.
• Investors running a BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat) strategy where the bridge funds the buy and rehab, then refinances into a DSCR loan after stabilization.
• Builders doing modest ground-up scopes that need the same speed and draw mechanics.

Who this product is not for

• Owner-occupants. This is investor-only product.
• Long-term hold buyers who do not need speed. Conventional or DSCR will be cheaper.
• Deals that do not pencil on ARV. No lender saves a bad spread.

The application path

The fastest path from a deal under contract to funding is to apply with the deal in hand, not without. The intake takes about two minutes and a broker reviews same-day. Start your fix-and-flip application here. All funding is subject to lender approval and final underwriting, and any case-study figures cited above are illustrative; results are not typical.

The bottom line

The cheapest loan is never the right loan for a flip. The right loan is the one whose timeline matches the asset’s timeline, whose underwriting reads the deal instead of your W-2, and whose draw schedule keeps your rehab on a controlled cadence. That is what a fix-and-flip bridge product is built to do. If your deal pencils, it is fundable. If your bank is the reason your last one died, you were not at the right lender.

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