Using a Bridge Loan to Pay for Senior Living
Planning a move into senior living is an exciting step toward comfort, community, and enhanced well-being. Having access to the right financial resources can make your senior living transition smooth, seamless, and stress-free.
Many families find bridge loans offer a practical solution to their senior living funding needs, providing fast, short-term funding to support an expedited senior living transition, without requiring you to wait for a home sale or benefit approvals.
At MorseLife, we understand the importance of timely transitions to ensure comfort and peace of mind for everyone involved. While we don’t assistance with the loan application process, we want to share how bridge loans work and how they can help families like yours bridge the senior living funding gap.
In this article, we’ll explain how a bridge loan can help you take confident, proactive steps toward your new chapter at MorseLife.
Fast facts about bridge loans
Let’s start by sharing some insights about bridge financing:
- Bridge loans can provide funds within as little as 24-72 hours, dramatically speeding access to needed funds, compared to the typical home sale timeline of 30-60 days.
- Most lenders require at least 20% equity in your current home to get a bridge loan.
Defining the senior living funding gap
Many families face unexpected financial hurdles when planning a transition to senior living.
Common causes of senior living funding delays include:
- A home on the market: Selling a home can take months. This delay can leave families unsure how to cover upfront senior living costs.
- Long-Term Care (LTC) insurance claims: Even after approval, payouts can take weeks to finalize.
While awaiting these funds, families still need to cover senior living community deposits, initial fees, and monthly rent to secure a spot in their desired community.
A bridge loan can provide an effective short-term solution to help cover costs until additional funding sources become available, allowing families to move forward confidently with a seamless senior living transition process.
Bridge loan funding facts
Here are some vital facts to help you understand how bridge loans work and determine if they’re the right option for you.
Bridge loans explained:
- Bridge loans for seniors can be funded in as little as 24 hours through lenders.
- Typical interest-only payments are approximately $7 per $1,000 borrowed each month, keeping short-term costs manageable.
- Bridge loan interest rates typically range from 6% to 12% annually, depending on factors like the borrower’s creditworthiness, loan amount, and term length.
- Borrowers may encounter origination fees between 1% and 3% of the loan amount, which cover the lender’s administrative and processing costs.
- Designed as a temporary solution, bridge loans are typically paid off within 6 to 12 months, often using proceeds from a home sale.
Bridge financing flowchart
Now that you know what a bridge loan is and how it can help you achieve your senior living funding and timeline goals, let’s explore a simplified overview of how the bridge loan process typically works to help you plan.
- Initial inquiry: You’ve explored senior living options and identified a community that fits your needs. Now, it’s time to find and connect with a bridge loan lender who offers terms that meet your short-term senior living funding needs.
- Pre-qualification: You complete the application and are pre-qualified for a bridge loan.
- MorseLife does not process or submit loan paperwork, but we’re here to offer our support and guidance as you navigate your senior living process. Reach out to our helpful team anytime.
- Senior living move-in: With your bridge loan funds available for use, you can make any necessary deposits and rapidly secure your new senior living residence.
- Home closing and/or benefits approval: Your home sale completes, or your other benefits come through. You now have access to the funds you were awaiting to cover your senior living costs and can begin the process of paying off your temporary bridge loan.
- Bridge loan payoff: You use the proceeds from your home sale or benefits to pay off your bridge loan in full, concluding the financing cycle.
Following this streamlined process allows families to act quickly when a senior living opportunity becomes available, without delaying needed care or waiting for funds to come through. With bridge financing, peace of mind and a smooth transition are possible within days rather than months.
At MorseLife, our people-first philosophy means we sincerely care for the families and individuals we’re honored to serve.
Our MorseLife Health System proudly assists more than 3,600 Palm Beach seniors every day with our award-winning continuum of senior living and care services.
We’ve seen firsthand how having quick access to funds can make all the difference for families transitioning into senior living. A bridge loan can turn what feels like a waiting game into a smooth, less stressful move for those in need.
Bridge loans for seniors
Suppose you’re exploring senior living options for yourself or a loved one and wondering whether a bridge loan could help you move forward. In that case, MorseLife’s experienced advisors are here to help you understand your choices.
With over 42 years of trusted service in Palm Beach County, MorseLife proudly supports thousands of seniors and their families with our innovative programs, rooted in our mission to provide the most enlightened and compassionate continuum of care in the spirit of Jewish traditions.
Reach out today for a confidential conversation about your funding options and goals, and discover how a MorseLife community can offer you the compassionate care, cultural connection, and the Gold Seal Award winning Excellence you and your family deserve.
