Short answer: Urgent bridging finance covers a settlement or deadline that cannot be moved, usually within 24 hours. Instant Business Finance assesses on the equity in property you already own and on how the loan will be repaid, rather than on financials, so a decision comes the same day the file arrives.
When finance falls over close to settlement
It happens more than the market admits, and it almost never happens early. A lender reprices at the eleventh hour. A valuation comes in under. A condition nobody flagged turns out to be unsatisfiable. A co-borrower's circumstances change. The common thread is that you find out with days rather than weeks in hand, and the settlement date does not care.
What you are buying at that point is not finance in the ordinary sense. You are buying the difference between completing and not completing, and the cost of not completing is usually a forfeited deposit, a damages claim under the contract, and a transaction that has to start again in a market that has moved.
Put that number down before you compare anything. It is almost always larger than people assume, and it is the figure that belongs next to the cost of the bridge rather than the rate on the facility that just fell over.
What has to be true for a file to move today
Four things, and all four are knowable within the first ten minutes of a phone call.
- Equity in property you already own. Enough behind any existing mortgage to cover the amount needed. This is the one that cannot be worked around.
- Signatories reachable today. Every registered owner, or every director and trustee where the property sits in a company or trust. This is the most common reason an urgent file becomes a two-day file.
- A property that can be valued without an inspection. Metropolitan residential, commercial and industrial property usually can. Remote or unusual property usually cannot, and that adds days rather than hours.
- An exit with a date on it. The settlement, the sale, the facility already approved. Urgency does not remove the need for a way out; it removes the time to invent one.
What we need in the first phone call
Say these five things at the start and you will get a straight answer inside the hour.
- The deadline, and what happens if it is missedNot a formality. It shapes the structure and the term, and it tells us what to protect.
- The property and roughly what is owingAn approximate balance is fine to begin with; the exact figure can follow.
- Who is on the title, and whether they are contactable todayIf one signatory is on a plane, say so now rather than at four o'clock.
- How the loan gets repaidThe settlement, the sale, the refinance. If the answer is vague, that is the thing to work on first.
- Anything awkwardDefaults, arrears, ATO debt, a caveat somebody forgot about, a dispute on the title. None of it necessarily stops the loan. Finding it late does.
A file with four days on the clock
A Brisbane building company had a commercial settlement booked for the Friday on a site they were buying to expand a yard. Their lender withdrew on the Monday after a credit policy change, with no alternative offered.
The directors owned a home and an investment unit, both in Queensland, both with substantial equity. The investment unit was in a single name with the owner available, so it was the faster security even though the home had more equity behind it.
Ownership and value were confirmed on the Tuesday morning, the offer went out before lunch, and documents were signed that afternoon. The second mortgage was registered with Titles Queensland on the Wednesday and funds cleared Thursday morning, a day ahead of settlement.
The exit was the sale of an older plant item plus the facility their bank eventually wrote three months later. The deposit was not forfeited, which was the entire point of moving on the Monday rather than spending the week arguing with the original lender.
Is urgent bridging more expensive?
Not because of the urgency. Short-term property-secured lending is priced above bank lending because it is short, it sits behind another lender and it is assessed on equity rather than income. That is true whether you call on a calm Tuesday or a frantic one, and the equity behind your existing mortgage is the same figure either way.
What protects you is that every cost goes in the written offer before you sign: the interest, the establishment fee, legal and title costs, what it costs to discharge, and what applies if the exit runs late. A lender who will not put all of that in writing in advance is the signal to walk, and it is a far more useful test than any advertised rate.
The comparison that actually matters is not this loan against a bank loan. It is this loan against the cost of the settlement failing. Sometimes that maths says the deal is not worth saving, and when it does we will say so rather than write the loan.
When we will tell you not to do it
When there is no exit. A bridge repaid by an event that has a date is finance. A bridge repaid by hope is a second problem stacked on the first, and the property is what pays for it.
When the numbers do not work even if everything goes right. If the deposit at risk is smaller than the cost of the finance plus the shortfall you would still be carrying afterwards, walking away from the contract may be the cheaper outcome. That is an uncomfortable conversation and it is the right one to have before signing, not after.
And when a slower lender would still make the date. If your bank can complete in the time available, use the bank. Urgency is worth paying for only when it buys something.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly can you actually settle?
A decision the same day and funds in as little as 24 hours where the property can be valued from a desk and signatories are available. Where a full valuation is needed, two to four days is realistic and we will say so at the start.
My finance fell through three days before settlement. Is that too late?
Not necessarily. It depends on the title, the signatories and the valuation basis, and that is a five-minute conversation rather than an application. Call rather than filling in a form.
Can I bridge a shortfall rather than the whole amount?
Yes, and it is usually the better structure. Sizing the bridge to the actual gap rather than the whole transaction costs a fraction as much.
Does bad credit stop an urgent bridge?
No. The assessment is on the equity and the exit. Defaults, judgments, arrears and ATO debt are context rather than a decline.
What if my settlement gets extended?
Tell us as soon as you know. An extension discussed in advance is an ordinary conversation; one raised on the due date is a much worse one, which is why the cost of an extension belongs in your original offer.
Does it cost anything to apply?
No. There's no cost to apply or check your eligibility. All costs are set out in writing in your loan offer before you sign anything.
Will checking my eligibility affect my credit score?
No. Our 60-second eligibility check doesn't make a credit enquiry. A credit check is only done later, with your consent, if you decide to proceed.
