Start with the payment structure
The Hard-Money and Bridge Loan Calculator estimates one specific arrangement: a single US/USD loan is fully advanced at origination, a fixed nominal rate applies, interest is paid monthly for the entire term, and original principal is repaid at maturity. It does not model every loan marketed as hard-money or bridge financing. Those labels do not tell the calculator how interest accrues or when principal must be paid, so there is no label toggle.
Enter principal, nominal annual rate, contractual term, upfront points and other fixed upfront financing fees. Principal must be positive and fees nonnegative, in cents. Rates and points accept whole basis points (0.01 percentage point), from 0–100%; term accepts 1–60 whole months. These are supported numerical ranges, not recommended terms, legal limits or lender eligibility criteria. The initial example is useful without an account and is not saved merely by opening the page. Use example explicitly selects it.
Interest payments leave principal outstanding
The CFPB explanation of interest-only loans explains that interest-only payments do not reduce the amount owed. Its mortgage discussion also describes possible structures after an interest-only period. This calculator selects just one: interest-only for the full contractual term, followed by principal repayment. It has no later amortizing phase.
Let P be principal in dollars, a the annual rate as a normalized decimal and T the term in months. The monthly rate is r = a / 12. Monthly interest M = P × r, and scheduled interest I = M × T. For $250,000 at 12%, r is 1% and M is $2,500. Twelve payments total $30,000 of interest; none repays the $250,000 principal.
Payments occur in arrears, beginning one month after funding. The model assumes every scheduled payment is made on time. It does not add unpaid interest to principal or compound it. A zero interest rate produces zero monthly interest, but the principal still has to be repaid.
Separate points from other fees
Points are entered as a percentage of original principal. Points cost Q = P × q, where q is the normalized points rate. Two points on $250,000 are $5,000. Add $1,500 of other fixed upfront financing fees and combined upfront fees U = Q + F are $6,500.
Here, both fee components are paid separately at origination. They do not increase principal or reduce the amount advanced. If a lender's aggregate fee quote already includes points, split out those points before entering the remainder as fixed fees. Entering the full quote and points again would double count them. Do not enter the same charge twice under different labels.
Upfront financing fees are not total cash to close. Purchase contributions, property costs and reserves can sit outside these five inputs. Likewise, total financing cost I + U excludes principal repayment and does not measure project total cost, profit or return.
The CFPB interest-rate versus APR explanation distinguishes an interest rate from a broader borrowing-cost measure that includes applicable charges. This calculator displays the nominal rate and dollar costs separately. It does not calculate APR or IRR, and the entered rate should not be read as APR.
Balloon versus final maturity cash
The principal balloon B is P: the entire original principal. Final maturity cash is P + M, because the last month's interest is due alongside principal. In the default example, the balloon is $250,000 and final maturity cash is $252,500, both due in month 12.
That final $2,500 interest payment is already one of the twelve payments in I. Adding it again to P + I would overstate scheduled loan payments. The three useful totals are:
- Financing cost: I + U, or $36,500. This excludes principal.
- Scheduled loan payments: P + I, or $280,000. This excludes upfront fees.
- Total modeled loan payments and fees: P + I + U, or $286,500.
Worked examples and rounding
The following scenarios use the calculator's exact assumptions. They are examples of arithmetic, not quoted offers or suggested terms.
| Measure | 12-month example | 6-month example | Zero-rate example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal | $250,000.00 | $250,000.00 | $100,000.00 |
| Annual rate / term / points | 12% / 12 / 2% | 12% / 6 / 2% | 0% / 6 / 1% |
| Fixed fees | $1,500.00 | $1,500.00 | $500.00 |
| Monthly interest | $2,500.00 | $2,500.00 | $0.00 |
| Scheduled interest | $30,000.00 | $15,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Points cost | $5,000.00 | $5,000.00 | $1,000.00 |
| Combined upfront fees | $6,500.00 | $6,500.00 | $1,500.00 |
| Principal balloon | $250,000.00 | $250,000.00 | $100,000.00 |
| Final maturity cash | $252,500.00 | $252,500.00 | $100,000.00 |
| Financing cost | $36,500.00 | $21,500.00 | $1,500.00 |
| Scheduled loan payments | $280,000.00 | $265,000.00 | $100,000.00 |
| Loan payments plus fees | $286,500.00 | $271,500.00 | $101,500.00 |
Changing the contractual term from 12 to 6 months removes six interest payments. It does not reduce principal, monthly interest, points or fixed fees. Maturity occurs earlier, with the same final maturity cash. This comparison is not an estimate of paying off a 12-month loan early: minimum-interest or prepayment provisions are outside the model.
Intermediate Decimal arithmetic remains unrounded. Each output amount rounds half-up to cents. For $100 principal at 1% over 3 months with no fees, unrounded monthly interest is $0.083333…: the display shows $0.08, but total interest is $0.25 rather than $0.24. Final maturity cash is $100.08; scheduled loan payments total $100.25. Rounded components can differ by cents from independently rounded totals.
The rate-sensitivity table reruns the same engine at −1, −0.5, 0, +0.5 and +1 percentage points, holding other inputs fixed. Unsupported rates or unsafe totals are omitted. Principal and upfront fees remain unchanged; interest and financing cost respond to the rate. The rows are scenarios, not forecasts.
Maturity risk and excluded terms
Interest-only payments can make the regular payment smaller than a payment that also retires principal, while leaving the whole principal due at the end. A planned sale, refinance or extension is not guaranteed. The OCC's refinance-risk bulletin discusses the risk of being unable to replace debt under reasonable future terms and notes the exposure of loans with principal remaining at maturity. That concept matters here; the bulletin's bank supervisory guidance does not become a universal obligation for calculator users.
Actual lender accrual, fee and repayment provisions may differ. This model excludes staged rehab draws, daily accrual and date conventions, retained interest reserves, financed fees, variable rates, amortizing or mixed payment modes, extensions, early payoff, minimum-interest provisions, penalties and default interest. It also excludes APR/IRR, qualification, affordability verdicts, LTV/LTC/ARV sizing, profit or exit forecasts and offer comparison. Review the actual terms to decide whether this specific structure describes the loan you intend to calculate.
Workspace, sharing and related calculations
The calculator reads only the workspace's bridge loan role. It does not infer principal from price, value, ARV, equity or another loan. Missing fields use visible defaults without saving; populated zeros are retained. A points-only edit changes points only. Rate edits do not fill missing fees or repair timing conflicts.
Contractual term drives this form. If stored interest-only months or balloon month differ, the form explains the unsupported structure. An explicit term edit selects interest-only payments for the entire term and synchronizes those two timing companions. Opening the calculator and unrelated edits preserve conflicts. Stored amortization months are preserved but unused; the model does not include an amortizing phase.
The Commercial Loan Calculator supports its own acquisition-role terms. Navigating there does not transfer bridge terms. The Flip Profit Calculator uses an aggregate financing-cost assumption that this calculator never overwrites. You must decide which project costs belong in that aggregate and avoid counting them twice.
The Loan-to-Value Calculator compares its selected loan and value assumptions; it does not automatically add this bridge debt. The Cash-Out Refinance Calculator models a separate replacement loan, not an assured exit from this one. Mortgage, Rental ROI, DSCR and Maximum Loan also retain their original loan meanings and do not substitute bridge payments.
Shared links place these five validated inputs in a compressed URL fragment. Anyone with the link can decode them; it is not private storage. Recipients get an isolated, unsaved preview independent of their own workspace. Browser reports recalculate those inputs, identify hard-money-bridge-loan@1.0.0, and can be printed using the browser. Neither shares nor reports contain the whole scenario or establish that an omitted loan structure is compatible. Input-only scenario export and confirmed reset remain local controls; there is no import or cloud sync.
Sources above were checked on October 13, 2026. They support the concepts explained here, not universal rate or point claims, consumer-mortgage rules for every loan, or a legal-review requirement. Maintenance owner: project owner / Cloudwards e.K.