Finance category
Mortgage, loan, investing, tax, and money calculators.
Bridge Loan Exit Fee Calculator
Bridge loans look cheap on the coupon but carry heavy stacked fees: 1-3% origination, 1-3% exit, 0.5-1% extension if needed, plus possible prepay penalty. All-in cost on a 6-9 month bridge often totals 12-18% annualized. This calculator adds it all up so you can benchmark against a harder push on conventional financing.
All-in exit cost
$36,125
Effective annualized cost
16.06%
Interest carry
$23,625
Total fees
$12,500
Origination fee
$6,000
Exit fee
$3,000
Extension fee
$0
Total cost as % of loan
12.0%
How the math works
On a $300K bridge at 10.5% for 9 months with 2% origination and 1% exit fee: interest carry $23,625 + origination $6,000 + exit fee $3,000 + $3,500 legal = $36,125 total. Effective annualized 16.1% — substantially higher than the 10.5% coupon. Add an extension and the cost gets worse fast.
Use this number as the hurdle for your bridge decision: your exit proceeds (sale or refi) must beat the original purchase plus bridge cost plus your target margin, or the deal was wrong. Most flip-and-refi failures come from underestimating bridge cost rather than under-delivering on renovation.
How to Use
- Enter loan amount, interest rate, and months held.
- Add origination points, exit fee %, extension use, and prepay penalty if early.
- See total fee stack, effective annualized cost, and net proceeds vs projected exit value.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are bridge loans so expensive?
High operational cost per deal (individual underwriting, short hold) plus high default risk. Lenders price both risk and speed into the fees. The headline coupon (9-12%) is less painful than the all-in cost (15-22% annualized) when you include all the upfront and exit fees.
When is a bridge actually right?
Time-sensitive acquisitions where losing the deal costs more than the bridge premium. Fix-and-flip where 4-6 month hold makes conventional 30-year loans impossible. Cash-out bridging a refinance delay. Avoid bridge for long-term holds — the fees are prohibitive over 12+ months.
Can I negotiate?
Yes. Lenders typically build 1% cushion into their initial term sheets. Ask for exit fee waiver if you refi with the same lender. Negotiate extension fee down if your exit timeline is solid. Shop 3+ bridge lenders; rates vary widely.
What's a 'prepay penalty' on a bridge?
Some bridge lenders charge 1-2 months of interest if you exit early. Counterintuitive but true — they priced in the full hold and don't want early payoffs. Get this removed in underwriting; if you can't, include it in the exit math.
Related Calculators
More Finance Calculators
Browse all finance →AI Cost Calculator
Compare token costs across OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google AI models. Calculate monthly API spending for GPT-4o, Claude, Gemini, and more.
Tip Calculator
Calculate the perfect tip and split the bill between friends. Choose preset percentages or enter a custom tip amount.
Bill Splitter Calculator
Split an uneven restaurant bill by item, divide tax and tip proportionally, and see exactly who owes whom.
Discount Calculator
Calculate sale price, discount amount, stacked discounts, sales tax, and total savings for any markdown.
Gas Mileage Calculator
Calculate MPG or km/L, estimate trip fuel cost, and compare annual fuel expenses between two vehicles.
Sales Tax Calculator
Add sales tax to a price, reverse-calculate the pre-tax amount from a total, and estimate tax for multiple items on one receipt.
Keep exploring
Next steps in Finance
Previous calculator
Bridge Loan Calculator
Size a bridge loan against current-home equity and model interest-only, accrued, or amortized payments with a balloon payoff at sale.
Next calculator
Bridge Loan Payment Calculator
Calculate monthly payment on a bridge loan with interest-only structure, origination fees, and short-term balloon payoff.