Alternatives to a Bridging Loan in Australia: What Costs Less (2026)

A bridging loan lets you buy before you sell, but you pay the full bridging rate on everything the sale will repay. When your timing allows, there are cheaper ways to move. Most of them work by lining up the two settlements so you never hold both homes on borrowed money.

The options compared

What each costs on the same move

Take the move from our bridging loan calculator: a home expected to sell for $1,100,000 with $400,000 owing, a $1,500,000 purchase, and six months to sell.

The cheap routes depend on someone else agreeing: the seller of the new home has to accept the condition, the bond or the settlement date. That is what you pay for with a bridging loan, the freedom to settle when you want. Change the figures in the calculator to see your own gap.

Sell first and rent

Sell, settle, then buy with the proceeds. Westpac’s guide for next home buyers lists the advantages: you know your budget, and you can rent in the new area before you choose. The downsides it lists are prices rising before you buy, short-term rent, and moving twice. It says buying first is often the riskier strategy.

You can also ask your buyer to let you stay on after settlement and pay rent. Consumer Protection WA’s settlement fact sheet mentions the seller renting the home back as something buyer and seller can agree.

Subject-to-sale offer

An offer on the new home that only goes ahead if your current home sells by a set date. It costs nothing, but it’s a weaker offer than an unconditional one.

• Victoria: you can negotiate the condition in a private sale. At auction, any condition needs the seller’s agreement.
• Queensland: it is a special condition added to the standard REIQ contract, and the law handbook says a solicitor should draft it.
• Western Australia: the seller can usually keep marketing. Under the common 48-hour clause, if another offer comes in you have two business days to sell or drop the condition.

A longer settlement

Sell with a short settlement and buy with a long one, so your sale settles first and its proceeds pay for the new home. Consumer Affairs Victoria says settlement is usually 30 to 90 days and negotiable; the NSW standard contract’s sample sets completion on the 42nd day; Consumer Protection WA gives a guide of 28 days after the offer goes unconditional.

If you need to get in early, the NSW standard contract allows early access by agreement, but you can’t let or alter the property and the risk of damage passes to you. In WA, a seller may ask an early occupier to take the home as it is and make the offer unconditional.

Deposit bond

A guarantee you give the seller instead of a cash deposit at exchange, for a one-off fee: Deposit Power’s calculator charges 1.75% of the deposit for up to six months, or $2,625 on $150,000. It covers the deposit only, so it pairs with a longer settlement: the bond secures the purchase, and your sale settles before you need the rest. Our deposit bond guide covers costs, issuers, and when a seller can refuse one.

Using your equity for the deposit

If your lender will increase your current loan, you can use the equity in your home as the deposit on the next. CBA describes usable equity as 80% of the home’s value less what you owe: a $750,000 home with a $400,000 loan has $200,000 of usable equity. ANZ says a top-up is subject to credit approval and adds to your debt. Like a bond, it covers the deposit, not the purchase, and your repayments rise until the sale clears the extra debt.

Relocation loans and non-bank bridging

A relocation loan is not an alternative to bridging. St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA each describe their relocation loan as also known as a bridging loan: up to 12 months, with the interest added to the loan.

Non-bank bridging lenders offer the same product on different terms. Bridgit publishes owner-occupier rates from 8.99% while bridging and 7.79% after the sale, terms up to 24 months, and lending up to 85% LVR, with a set-up fee from 0.60% of the loan. Yard publishes rates from 6.90% at up to 80% LVR for 6 to 12 months. Our bridging loans guide sets them beside the banks.

Keeping your current home

CBA lists keeping your current home as one of the options when you buy the next. You would rent it out and borrow against it, and your income and the rent would need to cover both loans. The tax rules work on what the money was used for, not which property secures it, so read the situations section of our bridging guide and talk to an accountant first.

Choosing a route

• Market flat or falling, or you’re unsure where to buy: sell first.
• Private sale and the seller is patient: try subject-to-sale or a longer settlement first, with a deposit bond if your cash is tied up.
• Auction or a competitive market, and you must settle before you sell: bridging, with a realistic sale plan.
• Whichever route: start with what your current home will sell for. A free appraisal from an agent who sells in your street gives you that figure.

For the decision itself, read Sell first or buy first?