Here’s a call I get almost every week in Winnipeg this time of year: “Ted, we found the house — it’s perfect, and we have to close in three weeks. But our current place doesn’t close until the end of the month. How are we supposed to come up with the down payment when all our money is tied up in the house we’re selling?”

It feels like a trap. Your down payment is sitting right there in the equity of your current home, but you can’t touch it until that sale actually funds — and your new purchase closes first. The good news is that this is one of the most common situations in a busy market, and there’s a simple tool built exactly for it: bridge financing.

What bridge financing actually is

A bridge loan is short-term financing that “bridges” the gap between the day you take possession of your new home and the day your old home’s sale closes and pays out. It lets you use the equity from your current home for your new down payment before that equity is actually in your hands.

It’s secured against your current home, it’s temporary — usually a few days up to about 90 days — and it’s automatically paid off the moment your sale closes. Your lawyer takes the proceeds from the sale, pays off the bridge loan, and forwards you whatever is left. You rarely have to think about it again after closing day.

The one thing you need: a firm sale

Here’s the part that trips people up. For a lender to advance a bridge loan, your current home almost always has to be sold firm — meaning every condition (financing, inspection, sale-of-buyer’s-home) has been removed and there’s a real closing date on the calendar. The bank needs to know, with certainty, that the money is coming to pay the bridge back.

If your home is still listed but not sold, or your buyer’s offer still has conditions attached, most major lenders won’t bridge it. That’s the single biggest thing to get in order early. A conditional offer is not the same as a firm sale, and the difference decides whether bridge financing is on the table at all.

What it costs — a real Winnipeg example

Bridge financing is priced higher than a regular mortgage because it’s short-term and secured against a home that’s on its way out the door. But because you only borrow for a handful of days, the total dollar cost is usually surprisingly small. Two pieces make up the cost:

• Interest — typically prime plus 2% to 4%. With prime sitting around 4.45% in mid-2026, that puts most bridge loans in the ballpark of roughly 6.5% to 8.5%, charged only for the days you actually carry the loan.
• An administration fee — a one-time lender setup charge, usually somewhere between $200 and $500, plus a small legal cost your lawyer adds for handling it.

Let me put real numbers on it. Say you’re a move-up family in south Winnipeg:

• You’ve sold your current home firm for $400,000, closing September 30. You owe $250,000, so after mortgage payout and selling costs you’ll net roughly $135,000.
• You’re buying your next home for $520,000, closing September 15 — two weeks before your sale funds.
• Your new mortgage is $400,000, so you need about $120,000 down on September 15 — money that’s still locked in your old home until the 30th.

You bridge that $120,000 for 15 days. At around 7.5%, the interest works out to roughly $370 (that’s $120,000 × 7.5% ÷ 365 × 15 days). Add a $400 admin fee and a couple hundred dollars in legal, and your all-in cost to make the whole move work is under $1,000. For most families, that’s a bargain compared to the alternative of trying to force both deals to close on the exact same day — or losing the home they wanted.

Why lining up the same closing date is harder than it sounds

People often ask why they can’t just make both homes close on the same day and skip the bridge entirely. You can try — and sometimes it works — but you’re now depending on two separate transactions, two sets of buyers and sellers, two lawyers, and two lenders all funding perfectly on the same afternoon. If your buyer’s financing is even a few hours late, your purchase can’t complete and you risk defaulting on the home you’re buying. Bridge financing removes that pressure and gives you breathing room to move on your own timeline instead of everyone else’s.

A few things to know before you count on it

Lenders will generally want to see enough equity in your current home to comfortably cover the bridge, and a reasonable credit profile — but approval leans far more on that firm sale agreement and your equity than on anything else. Terms longer than about 90 days, or a home that hasn’t sold firm yet, usually push you toward an alternative lender and a higher rate, so it’s worth planning the conversation before you’re writing an offer, not after.

Thinking about a move this fall?

If you’re planning to buy and sell in the same stretch — which, in a market moving as quickly as Winnipeg’s, most move-up buyers are — let’s map out the timing before you’re under pressure. I can tell you exactly what a bridge would cost in your situation, what your lender will need, and how to structure your offers so the whole thing closes smoothly.

Call me at 204-890-2446 or email ted@tedvailas.com, and we’ll make sure the gap between your two closings is the easiest part of your move.