The quick read: Good commercial bridge loan terms right now are terms that sit at or inside a dated, published benchmark on every line of the sheet (the spread, fees, lock-out, leverage, extensions, reserve and recourse), not just the rate. Published benchmarks exist for most of those lines: loans in recent CRE CLO deals averaged 303 basis points over SOFR, according to CRED iQ data published by Commercial Observer on July 27, 2026; SOFR was 3.87% as of September 23, 2026, per FRED; and Freddie Mac's short-term Optigo Value-Add loan sheet, dated April 2025, lists a 0.5% upfront fee, a 1% exit fee after a 12-month lock-out, and extension fees of 0.5% and then 1%. Where a quote runs above a benchmark, ask the lender what the extra cost buys.
This guide is a term-by-term benchmark, not a lender ranking. For which lenders make bridge loans, see the best bridge loan lenders for commercial real estate; for what a 6- to 12-month bridge costs per year once fees are spread over the hold, see how much a short-term bridge loan costs.
What counts as a good commercial bridge loan term right now?
A good commercial bridge loan term right now is one that sits at or inside a dated, published benchmark for that same line, because the coupon is only one line on a bridge term sheet and a low rate can travel with a heavy exit fee, a long lock-out or an extension that the lender alone controls.
The index is published daily, CRE CLO loan data gives a market spread, and Freddie Mac publishes a full product sheet for its short-term value-add loan. Where no public source states a figure for a lender type, the benchmark is that lender's written answer. The rate inputs, each dated:
- SOFR: 3.87% as of September 23, 2026 (FRED)
- 30-day average SOFR: 3.69764% as of September 24, 2026 (FRED)
- Bank prime rate: 7.00% as of September 21, 2026 (FRED)
- Federal funds target range: 3-3/4 to 4 percent, after the FOMC raised it by 1/4 percentage point on September 16, 2026 (Federal Reserve)
- Spread on recent CRE CLO loans: 303 basis points over SOFR, weighted average, with a weighted-average coupon near 6.68% (CRED iQ data published by Commercial Observer, July 27, 2026)
- Published commercial bridge rate estimate: 6% to 12%, NerdWallet's estimate from lender websites as of May 2026; its February 2026 bridge guide says 6% to 14% or more
Which published benchmarks can you hold each bridge term against?
Each bridge term can be held against at least one dated public benchmark, although the benchmarks come from different lender types: CRE CLO data prices the spread, Freddie Mac's value-add and rehab sheets price fees, leverage, coverage and extensions, NerdWallet summarizes private bridge and hard money ranges, and bank supervisory guidance sets leverage limits and reserve practice.
Table: Commercial bridge term benchmarks by lender type (each figure dated and sourced)
| Term on your sheet | What the published source states, by lender type | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Rate basis and spread | CRE CLO loans: 303 basis points over SOFR, weighted average, coupon near 6.68%. Commercial bridge loans overall: 6% to 12%, an estimate. Banks: prime, one of several base rates banks use to price short-term business loans, was 7.00% as of September 21, 2026 | CRED iQ via Commercial Observer, Jul 2026; NerdWallet, May 2026; FRED, Sep 2026 |
| Upfront fee | Agency value-add: 0.5% of the loan amount, nonrefundable, subject to adjustment. Private bridge lenders: processing, appraisal and escrow fees may apply; no amount stated | Freddie Mac Value-Add, Apr 2025; NerdWallet, Feb 2026 |
| Lock-out, exit fee and prepayment | Agency value-add: standard 12-month lock-out, then a 1% exit fee, waived on a refinance into a qualified Freddie Mac Conventional loan. Agency rehab, float-to-float: 2% prepayment premium during the interim phase. Direct private lenders: many offer no prepayment penalties | Freddie Mac Value-Add, Apr 2025; Freddie Mac Rehab, Apr 2025; NerdWallet, Feb 2026 |
| Leverage (LTV or LTC) | Agency value-add: baseline maximum 85% as-is loan-to-value or loan-to-purchase, 75% as-stabilized, with 15% cash equity generally required. Agency rehab: up to the lesser of 80% of as-is value or acquisition cost. Bridge lenders overall: 65% to 80% LTV or LTC. Hard money: 50% to 75% LTV. Banks: internal limits should not exceed 85% on improved commercial or multifamily property and 80% on commercial or multifamily construction | Freddie Mac Value-Add, Apr 2025; Freddie Mac Rehab, Apr 2025; NerdWallet bridge, Feb 2026; NerdWallet hard money, Mar 2026; OCC handbook, Mar 2022 |
| Debt service coverage | Agency value-add: 1.15x minimum amortizing as-is, 1.30x as-stabilized. Agency rehab: 1.20x interest-only as-is, 1.30x amortizing as improved. CRE CLO, private and bank bridge loans: not stated in the cited sources, so ask | Freddie Mac Value-Add, Apr 2025; Freddie Mac Rehab, Apr 2025 |
| Term and extensions | Agency value-add: three years, plus one 12-month extension at the borrower's request for a 0.5% fee, assuming no event of default, and one optional 12-month extension at Freddie Mac's discretion for a 1% fee. Bridge lenders overall: repayment terms up to three years. Hard money: a few months to a few years | Freddie Mac Value-Add, Apr 2025; NerdWallet bridge, Feb 2026; NerdWallet hard money, Mar 2026 |
| Interest-only and future funding | CRE CLO loans: full-term interest-only on 95% of collateral balance, and $244 million of future funding commitments across the sampled deals. Direct private lenders: many offer interest-only payments | CRED iQ via Commercial Observer, Jul 2026; NerdWallet, Feb 2026 |
| Interest reserve and rate cap | Banks, construction and lease-up guidance: an appropriate reserve covers interest through completion and lease-up, sale or occupancy, and during lease-up property cash flow is ordinarily applied to interest first. Agency value-add: no interest rate cap required. Agency rehab: no cap during the interim phase | OCC handbook, Mar 2022; Freddie Mac Value-Add, Apr 2025; Freddie Mac Rehab, Apr 2025 |
| Recourse and guaranties | Agency value-add: non-recourse, but guarantors need 1.5x the standard minimum net worth and liquidity, plus a completion guaranty or rehabilitation escrow. Agency rehab: completion guaranty for 80% of the approved budget and all work initiated | Freddie Mac Value-Add, Apr 2025; Freddie Mac Rehab, Apr 2025 |
Read the table as a checklist, not a rate sheet. The Freddie Mac sheets describe multifamily loans, carry an April 2025 date and say their terms are subject to change without notice. They also limit who qualifies: the value-add loan is for experienced multifamily operators, properties with no more than 500 units and planned upgrades of $10,000 to $25,000 per unit, the moderate rehab loan is for $25,000 to $60,000 of renovation per unit, and both sheets list Conventional Small, seniors housing, student housing and manufactured housing as not eligible. Meanwhile, the CRE CLO sample is 79.8% apartments; NerdWallet's figures are ranges across many lenders. None is an offer on your property, and a blank is a question for your lender. On leverage, confirm whether a quote is a percentage of as-is value, as-stabilized value or total cost, because loan-to-cost and loan-to-value are different tests.
What moves a bridge quote above or below those benchmarks?
A bridge quote moves above or below the benchmarks with four things you can check before signing: the index the loan floats over; the property type; how far the business plan sits from stabilization; and the lender's own appetite, which the Fed's July 2026 bank survey shows easing for some commercial real estate loans but not others.
Index: The FOMC raised the federal funds target range by 1/4 percentage point to 3-3/4 to 4 percent on September 16, 2026. SOFR printed 3.87% as of September 23, 2026, and the 30-day average SOFR stood at 3.69764% as of September 24, 2026, so two loans with the same spread can carry different coupons on the same day depending on which index the note names. Ask which one yours uses, how often it resets and whether it has a floor.
Property type: CRED iQ's sample of recent CRE CLO deals, published by Commercial Observer on July 27, 2026, was 79.8% apartments by balance, 8.1% hospitality and 5.2% industrial, with office, retail and health care each at roughly 1% or less. The 303-basis-point average therefore describes mostly apartment loans; on an office, retail or hospitality bridge, ask each lender what spread it has quoted on that property type.
Business plan: Freddie Mac's value-add sheet tests the same loan twice: against the as-is property, at a baseline maximum of 85% loan-to-value and a 1.15x minimum amortizing coverage, and against the as-stabilized pro forma, at 75% and 1.30x. Its moderate rehab sheet adds that the renovation plan may not take coverage below 1.0x on an interest-only basis. Ask any lender which value and which coverage test actually sets your proceeds.
Lender appetite: In the Federal Reserve's July 2026 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, released August 3, 2026, moderate and modest net shares of banks reported easing standards in the second quarter for loans on nonfarm nonresidential and multifamily properties, respectively, while construction and land development standards were basically unchanged, and a significant net share put those at the tighter end of their range. NerdWallet's May 2026 rates guide names similar drivers, including the lender, the property and Federal Reserve policy.
Which bridge terms deserve more attention than the rate?
The bridge terms that deserve more attention than the rate are the ones that decide what leaving early or staying late will cost you: the lock-out and exit fee, the extension options and the tests that unlock them, the interest reserve, and the guaranties, since a business plan that runs long or finishes early meets each of them.
Extensions: The CRE CLO distress rate rose from 19 percent in July to 28 percent in August 2026, according to CRED iQ data published by Commercial Observer on September 8, 2026. The distress traces to 2021 and 2022 vintage loans in a handful of large deals, and Texas, Florida and Georgia carried 44 percent of the distressed balance: bridge loans whose floating-rate plans ran out of time before the rent growth they were underwritten on arrived. That is the risk an extension exists to cover, so who controls it matters. Freddie Mac's value-add sheet puts both kinds in writing: the first 12-month extension is the borrower's to request for a 0.5% fee if there is no event of default, and the second is at Freddie Mac's discretion for 1%.
Lock-out and exit fee: Freddie Mac's value-add loan has a standard 12-month lock-out, which the sheet says can be longer or shorter based on the borrower's preference, and then a 1% exit fee that is waived when the loan is refinanced into a qualified Freddie Mac Conventional loan. Hold a private quote to the same two questions: does the lock-out end before your earliest realistic sale or refinance, and is the exit fee waived if the same lender provides the takeout loan?
Interest reserve: The OCC's Comptroller's Handbook defines an interest reserve as an account the lender establishes and the borrower uses to cover loan interest during construction and lease-up, funded either through the loan budget or by the borrower into a separate escrow. It adds that during lease-up, property cash flow is ordinarily applied to interest before the reserve, and that when a reserve runs dry a bank generally requires the borrower or guarantor to put in more cash. Ask how your reserve was sized, where its money comes from and who refills it.
Guaranties: Non-recourse does not mean guaranty-free. Freddie Mac describes its value-add loan as non-recourse, yet it requires guarantors with 1.5 times the standard minimum net worth and liquidity and a completion guaranty or rehabilitation escrow, and its moderate rehab loan requires a completion guaranty for 80% of the approved budget and all work initiated. Ask every lender for the recourse terms, the carve-out list and any completion guaranty in the term sheet itself.
What does a borrower-friendly bridge term sheet say, line by line?
A borrower-friendly bridge term sheet states every term in numbers and keeps the decisions with you: a spread over a named index, fees in dollars, a lock-out that ends before your plan does, extensions you can exercise yourself, a reserve sized to the plan, and personal liability limited to named carve-outs.
- Index and spread: SOFR or 30-day average SOFR plus a stated spread, with any floor written in
- Upfront fee: one figure in dollars, and whether it is withheld from loan proceeds
- Exit fee: waived on the takeout you plan, or priced into your comparison
- Lock-out: shorter than your earliest realistic sale or refinance
- Leverage: the percentage and the value it applies to: as-is, as-stabilized or total cost
- Coverage test: the minimum DSCR and the interest rate used to compute it
- Extensions: exercisable at your request on objective tests, with each fee stated
- Interest reserve: sized to the business plan, with the refill obligation named
- Rate cap: whether one is required, and its strike and term if so
- Recourse: the carve-outs listed and any completion guaranty capped
Once you hold more than one sheet, compare commercial loan terms across lenders on one normalized grid, so a lower rate with a heavier exit fee cannot pass for the better deal.
How do you get lenders competing on your bridge loan terms?
You get lenders competing on your bridge loan terms by sending every lender the same complete file and asking each one to answer the same checklist in writing, from index and spread to every fee, the lock-out, the extension tests, the reserve and the guaranties, so you compare real offers instead of one sheet against a benchmark.
A commercial mortgage brokerage is one way to run that process, and calling each lender directly is another. YieldStack publishes this guide. YieldStack is a commercial mortgage brokerage, not a lender. It costs Zero upfront to submit a deal and review offers; YieldStack's broker fee is 0.50–1.00% of the loan amount and is paid only at closing. Every credit decision is made by the lender; YieldStack arranges the introductions and negotiates on the borrower's side, and no loan, rate, or closing is guaranteed. Count any closing fee, including a broker fee, when you compare offers. Submit your bridge deal and hold each offer that comes back against these benchmarks.
The bottom line
Good bridge loan terms are a line-by-line judgment, not a rate. The benchmarks are dated and public: SOFR at 3.87% as of September 23, 2026, per FRED; a 303-basis-point weighted-average spread on recent CRE CLO loans, per CRED iQ data published by Commercial Observer in July 2026; Freddie Mac's April 2025 value-add sheet at 0.5% upfront, a 1% exit fee after a 12-month lock-out, and 0.5% then 1% to extend; and 65% to 80% LTV or LTC in NerdWallet's February 2026 guide. Get every line in writing, ask what any excess buys, and keep the extensions, the exit and the liability on your side.