Blanket Bridge Loans: Bridging a Portfolio Under One Loan

When would an investor use a blanket bridge?

• Buying a package. A seller offers several rentals together, and you need one fast closing.
• Renovating a group. Several properties need work on overlapping schedules.
• Consolidating short-term debt. Several separate bridge loans become one, with one maturity to manage.
• Bridging to portfolio debt. You plan to stabilize the group, then refinance into one long-term portfolio loan.

Axelrad Capital's Portfolio Loans page describes consolidating "multiple rental or investment properties under a single portfolio loan," with "one loan, one payment." Whether a lender offers a multi-property bridge structure varies, so ask the team how a multi-property bridge request would be handled.

How is a blanket bridge sized?

Lenders usually look at each property and at the group:

• Per-property value and cost. LTV (loan-to-value: the loan divided by property value) and LTC (loan-to-cost: the loan divided by purchase price plus renovation budget) for each property.
• Combined leverage. Total loan divided by total value or total cost.
• Allocated loan amount. The part of the loan assigned to each property, which drives release prices.

See the Bridge Loans page for current program terms.

What is a release price?

A release price is what you pay down on the loan to remove one property from the lien, for example when you sell it. It's often set above that property's allocated loan amount, so the remaining loan gets safer as properties come off. Ask:

• How is each release price set?
• Can properties be released in any order?
• Are there minimum conditions for a release, such as no default or certain coverage levels on the remaining properties?
• Are there fees per release?

Portfolio property schedule

The sums below add up value, rehab budget, allocated loan and release price across up to five properties, and show combined loan-to-cost (total allocated loan divided by total purchase price or value plus rehab). Leave unused properties blank.

Use one line per property for the words that go with the numbers: address, type and units, exit (sell, refinance or hold) and target exit date.

Release price worksheet

The release price is the allocated loan amount times one plus the release premium. Cash left after release is expected net proceeds minus the release price and fees.

Example: selling one house out of five (hypothetical)

Example for illustration only. The allocation and premium below are assumptions for the arithmetic, not Axelrad terms.

An investor has a blanket bridge on five houses. One house has a $150,000 allocated loan. If the release premium were 10%, the release price would be $165,000. The house sells for $230,000 net of selling costs. After the release payment, the investor keeps $65,000, before any payoff fees, and the blanket balance drops by $165,000. Because the release price is higher than the allocation, the remaining loan is now more conservatively secured, which matters to the lender on the next release.

What paperwork does a blanket bridge need?

Expect the lender to want the same items it asks for on a single-property bridge, for every property: contract or payoff, budget, valuation support, title and insurance. Add a portfolio schedule that ties them together. Keep one folder per property and one master schedule, so releases and draws stay organized.

What are the risks of a blanket bridge?

• One maturity for everything. If one property drags, the whole loan can still come due.
• Release price math. High release premiums can take most of the proceeds from early sales.
• Cross-default. A problem with one property can affect the whole loan.
• Takeout complexity. Refinancing a group needs a lender willing to finance the group, or individual takeouts timed with the release schedule.

Blanket bridge checklist

Tick each item as it is settled.

How do you plan the exit for a group of properties?

Decide early whether the portfolio exits together or one property at a time. A single portfolio takeout loan can be efficient, but every property usually needs to be ready around the same time. Individual exits, like selling some and refinancing others, give you flexibility, but each release takes a slice of the proceeds under the release schedule. Map each property's expected exit date in the portfolio schedule, and check two things. First, does the slowest property still finish before maturity? Second, will the remaining loan stay within the lender's release conditions as stronger properties leave the group? If the answer to either is no, change the plan or the structure before closing.

Key takeaways

• A blanket bridge puts several properties under one short-term loan.
• Release prices, often higher than allocated amounts, decide what each sale leaves you.
• The maturity date has to work for the slowest property in the group.
• Axelrad's Portfolio Loans page covers consolidating properties under one long-term loan. Ask about multi-property bridge structures directly.
• Plan the takeout for the group, not just one property.

Bridge your portfolio

Have several properties to finance together? Apply here, or review Portfolio Loans and Bridge Loans. General education only, not legal advice. Have an attorney review security documents.