A word from Bridgit
Bridgit, founded in 2021, is a non-bank lender revolutionising property lending via bridging loans. With a technology-first approach, the lender designs bridging products that meet the needs of their partners and Australian borrowers.
Bridgit aims to empower Australian home owners to access their hard-earned property equity to make progress. In doing so, home owners can enjoy the benefits of bridging, skip temporary living, never miss an opportunity, and buy their next dream home on their terms.
The company also looks to improve the process of bridging finance lending with a tech suite that includes a custom-built partner portal, where brokers can submit applications, manage deals in real time, and access tools and resources in one place.
Buying and selling a property are two things that rarely happen in perfect alignment.
In a property market where timing can be critical, bridging finance is helping borrowers navigate transaction challenges by providing greater flexibility.
Rather than letting a great opportunity slip away while waiting for a sale, more buyers are turning to bridging finance for flexibility.
But the days of seeing this product merely as a temporary Band-Aid are long gone. While its role in helping borrowers purchase a new property before selling their existing home is well established, bridging finance can also support a broader range of strategies.
Stephen Doyle, chief commercial officer at fintech lender Bridgit, says the product has come a long way from the days when it was viewed as a slow and expensive option, reserved only for emergencies when delays in bank processes threatened a settlement.
Doyle says advances in technology and specialised underwriting have reshaped the way bridging finance is viewed, with brokers increasingly recognising it as a strategic solution.
“Speed is now table stakes – what used to take four to six weeks with a major bank can happen in 24 hours. Add 85 per cent LVRs, terms up to 24 months, and no monthly repayment options, and brokers can position bridging as a client’s first choice, not their fallback,” Doyle says.
“For brokers, that has turned bridging from a niche product into a genuine conversation-starter with clients – a way to move asset-rich, cash-constrained clients forward, rather than just get them out of a bind.”
Profiles and scenarios
A range of borrowers are now in the market for a bridging loan.
Doyle says Bridgit has observed demand across a range of profiles, with downsizers or retirees looking to transition out of the family home one common use case.
“Because traditional banks penalise asset-rich, income-light retirees under standard servicing calculators, bridging loans let them unlock existing home equity to purchase land-lease or retirement village properties before selling,” he says.
The lender has also seen demand from upsizers in fast-moving urban markets, with Doyle noting bridging loans can help families secure their next home without risking being left out of the market due to limited inventory or rising prices.
And while the “buy now, sell later” solution remains the most commonly recognised use case for bridging finance, Doyle says the product supports a much broader range of scenarios.
One example he provides is borrowers accessing equity to fund cosmetic upgrades before selling, helping improve a property’s presentation and maximise its appeal to buyers.
Another use case is assisting during property settlements following a separation, allowing one party to purchase a new home or buy out the other’s share without waiting to sell.
Likewise, Doyle says the product can provide flexibility for investors to act quickly on time-sensitive opportunities, such as auction purchases or properties requiring short settlement periods.
“Bridging finance lets brokers say yes to clients they’d otherwise have to turn away – without needing any commercial real estate expertise,” Doyle says.
The technology piece
One factor driving the growth of bridging demand has been innovation from specialist lenders, with technology playing an increasingly important role in improving speed and certainty.
Bridgit is among the lenders looking to advance the product through innovation, having invested $15 million into building a fully proprietary, in-house tech stack designed to streamline the lending process.
Doyle says this investment is aimed at addressing the “speed-to-certainty” gap some brokers experience when managing time-sensitive property transactions.
“Owning our infrastructure allows us to integrate seamlessly into broker workflows, eliminating friction and turning a process that used to take weeks into minutes,” he says.
A key focus for Bridgit has been using technology to simplify the bridging process and reduce administrative demands for brokers through digital verification, automated data extraction, and property valuation integrations, according to Doyle.
He also highlights how Bridgit’s proprietary platform, ATLAS, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assess data and provide faster deal analysis. This is complemented by its policy intelligence tool, Oakley, which helps streamline credit checks by cross- referencing applications against lending guidelines.
“By automating these heavy risk assessments, our tech delivers an 87 per cent efficiency boost per credit assessor,” he says.
“For the broker, that translates to lightning-fast turnaround times, precise underwriting, and institutional-grade credit decisions when their clients need immediate liquidity.”
Speed remains a major focus for the lender, according to Doyle, who also points to the launch of features designed to simplify the broker journey.
This includes one-click applications that allow scenarios to be converted into full submissions without rekeying data, real-time credit assessments, and automatic loan updates.
“We’re continually evolving our portal to compress the entire deal journey, from initial scenario through to settlement, into a single connected flow,” he says.
“For brokers, that means bridging keeps getting faster to quote, faster to approve, and faster to settle – so it becomes an even easier product to lead with.”
Bridging the gap
So, how should brokers approach their first bridging deal?
Doyle says it’s important to approach the transaction differently from a traditional home loan. Rather than focusing on income servicing, brokers should start by understanding the client’s equity position and repayment strategy.
“Start with the exit, not the income – bridging is an equity- and exit-based transaction, not a traditional income-servicing one,” Doyle says.
The first step is mapping the available equity by understanding the value of the client’s existing property and their remaining debt position. From there, he says brokers need to clearly define the exit strategy, which is typically the sale of the existing property.
However, brokers do not need to navigate these scenarios alone, and Doyle says it’s always a good idea to consult with their lender’s support team when unsure.
“You don’t need to structure these deals alone. A quick five-minute call with one of our BDMs is all it takes to sense-check a scenario and map out the deal,” he says.
Looking forward
In many ways, the evolution of bridging finance has coincided with the rise of the non-bank lender. Since it was founded in 2021, Bridgit has expanded its presence in the market, surpassing a $1 billion loan book and facilitating more than $6 billion in residential property transactions.
Against this backdrop, Doyle says Bridgit’s goal is to continue supporting the growth of bridging finance by making the product more accessible for brokers. He also encourages brokers to run a full cost comparison before ruling bridging loans out as a potential solution.
“We don’t see bridging as a niche product anymore – it’s becoming a core part of how good brokers serve property-owning clients,” he says.
“Our job is to keep making it faster, simpler, and more accessible, so brokers can lead with it confidently.”
Bridging loan
Case study 1
Single security bridge
Purpose: Downsizer
Loan amount: $698,000
LVR: 63.07%
Loan term: 12 months
Client purchases a converted church in regional Victoria. Their existing bank said no after nine weeks of workshopping the application due to the nature of the incoming security.
The solution was to use a single security bridge on their existing unencumbered property, cashing the purchase price plus an extra $100,000 to complete minor renovations, including kitchen, bathroom and landscaping. Bridgit was able to consider the single security bridge, taking the outgoing property as collateral and ensuring the customer met their settlement deadline – from application lodgement to settlement in eight days.
Bridging loan
Case study 2
Utilising current value to meet contract price
Purpose: Off the plan
Loan amount: $2,392,400
LVR: 66.54%
Loan term: 12 months
Client’s intention to purchase two properties off the plan no longer seemed viable and they were stuck with what to do to meet a fast- approaching settlement date, putting them at risk of losing their deposit to the developer.
Bridgit offered a quick turnaround time upon notifications of valuations and settlement. Utilising the properties increased the value since the contract of sale was signed. In a high-pressure situation with significant funds at stake, Bridgit was able to beat the developer’s tight timeframes to secure both units, giving the clients 12 months to make top dollar on their purchasers.
