Buying and Selling a Home at the Same Time: How Bridge Loans Can Help

Buying and Selling a Home at the Same Time: How Bridge Loans Can Help

REALTOR® Magazine, article by Melissa Dittmann Tracey | September 8, 2025

Rocket Mortgage’s Austin Niemiec offers his take on why more borrowers are temporarily tapping the equity in their current home to avoid making a contingency offer on their next home.

One of the biggest stressors for home buyers and sellers is the prospect of being financially responsible for two homes. In a new survey from Clever Real Estate, about 20% of homeowners cited mistiming the sale with the purchase of another home as one of their biggest fears.

To avoid that possibility, many buyers make their offer contingent on the sale of their existing home. But contingencies can weaken buyers‘ chances of landing the home they want. So, some buyers lean on personal loans, piggyback loans or even their 401(k) savings.

Others have the option of using home equity. National Association of REALTORS® data shows the average homeowner’s wealth has increased by $140,900 over the last five years alone due to the rise in home equity. That’s fueling interest in bridge loans, which allow sellers to unlock a portion of that equity to help cover the costs of buying and selling simultaneously, says Austin Niemiec, chief revenue officer at Rocket Mortgage.

If you’re working with seller-buyer clients, you should be familiar with how a bridge loan works and know which lenders offer a bridge loan product. REALTOR® Magazine spoke with Niemiec to learn more about how bridge loans can help today’s seller-buyers navigate the market.

What exactly is a bridge loan?

Niemiec: A bridge loan is a short-term financing solution that essentially lets homeowners access the equity in their current home before they sell. It’s like a bridge that gives you the funds from the equity of your current home so that you can move forward with your next purchase—without having to go through the entire process and stress of selling your current home first.

So, buyers can purchase a new home while they sell without having to dip into their personal savings or other assets?

Niemiec: Yes, instead of pulling from savings or maybe selling stock or [liquidating] retirement accounts, buyers can tap into the equity that they’ve already built. And what’s really important is it gives them the ability to act quickly in a competitive market without having to go through the entire process of selling their house first.

Bridge loans are a very relevant product right now because we’re in a very interesting market. With inflation, things are more expensive than they’ve ever been. The average American’s credit card debt is at an all-time high. Savings are decreasing. But the one bright spot is there’s massive wealth with people’s equity in their home. Americans have never had more equity.

Are there limits to how much of that equity you can use for a down payment or closing costs when using a bridge loan?

Niemiec: There are limits for sure. We allow clients to use a certain percentage of their available equity. What we look at is, can we give them enough to comfortably cover the down payment and the closing costs of that new home while making sure they’re not overextended? We want to give flexibility and get them the cash they need but also, of course, protect them financially.

What does someone need to have in place to qualify for a bridge loan? Is it just about having equity or are there other requirements as well?

Niemiec: Equity is a big piece, but it’s not the only factor. We look at the overall creditworthiness—things like income, credit and really their overall financial profile. It’s similar to a traditional mortgage in that way. We want to make sure that clients can manage both homes for that transition period. Bridge loans are a very safe product.

With the Rocket Mortgage Bridge Loan, clients have up to six months to sell their current home. But what happens if the home doesn’t sell within those six months?

Niemiec: Most homes will sell within those six months, but we’ll help explore options if that home hasn’t sold—whether it’s refinancing the bridge loan, extending it or transitioning it to a different solution. Our priority is to make sure that they’re supported, they’re not stuck, and we have the flexibility to do that.

In today’s market we’re seeing a historically high percentage of cash buyers. That means buyers who need financing often are having to compete against them. Can a bridge loan help level the playing field?

Niemiec: A cash offer is probably the strongest offer. But the next strongest offer is an offer without contingencies. And one of the biggest contingencies is relying on selling a current home to buy. The bridge loan allows you to avoid the contingency of selling your current home, which allows you to better compete against these cash offers.

Often times, people find the new home they want and then they start thinking about selling their current home. [The bridge loan] allows them to remove that anxious period of trying to rush and scramble to sell and then have the whole thing riding on that process happening.