Why You Need a Bridge Loan

You have to move fast in today's housing market if you want to get into home of your dreams. In cities such as Seattle or San Francisco it's not uncommon for a buyer to receive half a dozen offers within first day or two after putting house on market.

Unless you have enough excess income to buy a second home without selling your current abode, you will have to play timing game; finding a home to purchase while finding a buyer for your own. This can be especially sticky if you are buying in an area with a hotter market than one you're leaving. Most sellers won't be willing to accept 'contingent' offers (you buying their home is 'contingent' on you selling your home) because of overwhelming demand in area manifest by numerous potential buyers beating down their door.

Under these competitive conditions, a bridge loan may be just what you need to avoid missing out on a time sensitive real estate purchase. Not sure how to go about securing a bridge loan? Eventually you'll go through a bank or private lender to get a bridge loan, but it pays to know basics before you set foot into local loan office.

Bridge Loan Basics

Strictly defined, a bridge loan is a form of second trust that is collateralized by your present home in a manner that allows proceeds to be used for closing on a new house before old house is sold.

Would you like to know how a car wash chain with only 12 locations has cleaned over 33,373,975 cars and has an annual revenue of over $40 Million (that is not a misprint) using little to no paid advertising?

Well, sit forward because I'm about to tell you. The company name is "Car Spa" and here's how I discovered their brutally effective referral strategy. I often go to Taco Bell to have lunch and read a book. I noticed a little flyer next to their cash register.

A few days later I stopped in with my family to get a frozen yogurt and right next to cash register was same flyer.

The next day, I took my family to our favorite buffet restaurant and low and behold, there was a stack of Car Spa flyers.

I then started asking people at these locations what deal was with Car Spa flyer that they had next to their cash register and they all said that some old guy comes around every week and replinishes their stack.

I asked them, "Do you have some type of reciprocal arrangement with Car Spa?" They all said, "No...they asked if they could put their flyers there as a gift to our guests and we said sure."

Here's a copy of referral flyer that Car Spa uses to drive traffic. http://www.marketingbestpractices.com/temp/car_spa.pdf

Pretty simple. Notice 48 hour guarantee.

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