What is bridging finance?

Bridging finance is short-term, property-secured lending that covers the gap between needing funds now and a defined event that will repay the loan later - a property sale, a refinance, or the completion of a longer transaction. It is a timing product, not a substitute for equity or serviceability.

What it's typically used for

• Buying a new property before an existing one has settled
• A purchase contract with a settlement date the buyer's finance can't meet through a standard approval
• Completing a business or asset sale that is close but not yet unconditional
• Covering a shortfall while a longer-term refinance is arranged

In each case, the borrower already has a way to repay the loan - the exit - and the bridge simply covers the period until that exit lands. Where there's no clear exit, bridging finance isn't the right structure, no matter how urgent the funding need feels.

How it's assessed

Alphacon Bridge is assessed on the security and the exit, not a full income picture - income can be evidenced with an accountant's letter or handled through prepaid interest, and there's no requirement for two years of financials. It lends from $100,000 to $5,000,000 against Australian property, on a first mortgage, up to 75% LVR, for companies and trusts borrowing for a genuine commercial or investment purpose.

A bridge is priced for speed and a short holding period. The moment the exit stops being 'soon' and starts being 'eventually', the economics stop working.

What makes it different from a standard loan

Bridging finance settles quickly because it's underwritten around the property and the exit rather than a full serviceability assessment. That speed comes with a shorter term - typically 3 to 60 months in Alphacon's case - and pricing that reflects the facility being temporary by design, not a long-term hold.

Used well, bridging finance is a precise tool for a known, short-term problem: a timing gap with a visible way through it. Used as a stand-in for a deal that doesn't otherwise stack up, it just delays the same conversation at a higher cost.