Bridging before the GRV valuation exists.

A formal gross realisation valuation takes weeks. What a funder can still assess in the meantime, and how to present it so the valuation follows the deal rather than blocking it.

Bridging finance

Buying a site before the valuation can catch up.

A gross realisation valuation is not a desktop exercise. A hypothetical development assessment asks a valuer to price a project that does not exist yet, so it needs the approval and its conditions, the drawings, a schedule of areas, a costed build and settled comparables. That instruction is quoted, allocated to a panel valuer, drafted, then reviewed by the lender. None of it is built to move at the speed of a vendor's settlement date.

That gap is what loses sites. The contract is signed, the deposit is at risk, the vendor will not extend again, and the funding answer everyone is waiting on depends on a report nobody has yet been able to instruct.

The narrower question is what a funder can form a view on today, while the valuation is instructed in parallel rather than waited on in sequence. That is what this page covers. It does not mean a lender waives valuation or relaxes credit requirements. It means the valuation follows the decision to engage rather than blocking it, and any terms offered remain subject to it.

What this actually means

What a lender can look at before a valuation exists.

A bridge and a construction facility answer different questions. Construction debt is underwritten against a completed project, which is what a gross realisation valuation is for. A bridge over a settlement is more often assessed against the asset as it stands and a defined exit — a narrower question, and sometimes answerable on evidence that already exists.

01

The signed contract

An arm's-length contract between unrelated parties is evidence of price, not just intent. Marketing history, offer count and the agent's file speak to whether the price is defensible. A related-party transfer carries far less weight, and credit will say so.
02

Planning status and conditions

An issued permit or development approval is verifiable today, with its conditions, expiry, any live appeal period and outstanding referral items. Approval status often drives what the land is worth as it sits, and needs no valuer to evidence.
03

Feasibility and costed build

A feasibility costed by a quantity surveyor or priced by a builder, with contingency, holding, finance and selling costs and GST treatment shown, lets an assessor test the project on numbers you already hold. Our development finance calculator sanity-checks the shape first.
04

Local market and rental evidence

Written appraisals from agents who actually transact in that catchment, settled comparable sales rather than asking prices, days on market, and rental evidence where a hold forms part of the exit. Supporting evidence only, never a substitute for a valuation.
05

Borrower profile and conduct

Completed projects, the delivery team, conduct on existing facilities, tax position and contingent liabilities. Character and capacity are assessed from history rather than a valuation report, and a documented record is read differently from a first-timer.
06

A specific, evidenced exit

"Refinance later" is not an exit. A named construction takeout, a sale campaign with an agency agreement, a residual stock facility or a dated equity event is. Short-dated debt is repaid by its exit, so the exit is the most interrogated part of the file.
The sequence

How it runs when time is against you.

01

Fix the date that actually matters

Not the date you would like. The contractual settlement date, any extension already used, the penalty interest position, and whether the vendor will extend again. Everything is scheduled backwards from it, and if it cannot honestly be met, better to know now.
02

Size the request against the asset as it stands

A facility sized against a finished project needs the finished-project valuation. A bridge sized against the site as it stands, plus your own contribution, is a different conversation. Being clear which one you are asking for stops the application being reworked halfway through.
03

Build the package, then name every gap in it

The file goes to credit with a note stating plainly what is missing, why, and when it arrives. A funder who finds the gap themselves reads concealment; a funder told upfront reads scheduling. That one behaviour changes how a time-critical file is received.
04

Instruct the valuation in parallel, not afterwards

The valuation is not avoided, it is moved off the critical path. Where the lender's process allows, briefing the valuer with drawings, areas and cost plan while credit reads the file means the report lands into a live assessment rather than starting one.
05

Read the conditions precedent as the real answer

Anything issued now is conditional, and the conditions are the substance. Which are administrative, which are open credit questions, and which turn on a valuation outcome nobody can predict — that determines whether you can safely rely on the facility to settle.
06

Manage the valuation and the exit as one job

The valuer needs a complete, consistent information set and someone who answers questions the same day. Because the bridge is repaid by its exit, the takeout — construction facility, sale, or a residual stock facility — should be progressing while the bridge is still being documented.
Evidence checklist

The package that gets read instead of shelved.

None of this replaces a valuation. It is what lets a credit team start forming a view while the valuation is being obtained, and it separates a file that is assessed from one that is parked.

The asset
01
Signed contract of sale with annexures and variations
02
Evidence of deposit paid and the source of those funds
03
Title search, plan of subdivision, easements and encumbrances
04
Permit or development approval with the full condition set
05
Current drawings, schedule of areas, and any outstanding referral conditions
The numbers
01
Feasibility with assumptions visible, not just an output page
02
Quantity surveyor cost plan or a priced builder's estimate
03
Contingency, holding, selling and finance costs shown separately
04
Settled comparable sales with dates and addresses
05
Sources and uses showing every dollar in and out at settlement
Borrower and exit
01
Corporate structure, trust deeds and beneficial ownership
02
Assets and liabilities statement with supporting evidence
03
Completed project history with addresses, dates and outcomes
04
Conduct on existing facilities, arrears history and tax position
05
The named exit, its counterparty, and the expected sequence
The gap schedule matters more than it sounds. A one-page list of outstanding items with owners and dates turns an incomplete application into a managed one. It is the same discipline that converted a stalled planning file into an approved one at Yarragon.
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Questions

What developers usually ask at this point.

Does this mean the lender waives the valuation?

No, and the phrase "without a valuation" is misleading. A lender does not lend against a development site without one. What can change is the order: a funder may assess the file, engage and issue conditional terms while the valuation is being obtained, rather than refusing to look until the report arrives. It still has to be satisfactory, and any offer remains subject to it and to formal credit approval.

How long does a gross realisation valuation take?

It varies, and nobody can quote a reliable figure in advance. The panel, the valuer's availability, the region, the complexity and the completeness of the information all move it. Weeks rather than days is realistic for a hypothetical development assessment, with the lender's own review of the report on top. The one variable you control is the pack the valuer receives.

Can I use an agent appraisal instead of a valuation?

No, and presenting one as equivalent loses credibility with a credit team quickly. An appraisal is a marketing opinion from a party with an interest in winning the listing. It is genuinely useful as supporting evidence of buyer depth and absorption in thin regional markets. It is not a valuation, carries no professional liability, and should be labelled for what it is.

What if the valuation comes in below the feasibility?

Then the facility is re-sized, restructured, or it does not proceed on those terms. That is the risk of engaging before the report exists, and it should be priced into the decision, including what happens to your deposit if funding cannot complete. Responses can include more borrower equity, a different security mix, a second mortgage arrangement, or a smaller facility.

Is a bridge more expensive than waiting?

Short-dated facilities are priced and structured differently from term debt, and pricing depends on the security, the borrower, the exit and the funder. The comparison that matters is the total cost of the bridge against the real consequence of not settling, not against a cheaper facility you cannot access in time. Sometimes that favours walking away, and a broker who never says so is not being useful. That assessment is where our advisory work starts.
Track record

Three files where timing was the problem.

Individual past transactions, included to show how the assessment and the escalation were handled. They are not offers, benchmarks, or an indication of what any other transaction may achieve.

Bridging

Moama, NSW

An $800,000 six-month bridging facility on an approved development site, secured on an evidenced package assembled before the gross realisation valuation had been instructed. It shows what a funder was prepared to look at, and how the missing items were scheduled rather than hidden.
Read the Moama case study →
Escalation

Newport, VIC

$301,364 of cost-to-complete allowance released mid-build after an evidence-based escalation, where the lender's default answer had been no. The point is the method: a documented, specific case put to the right person rather than a complaint put to the wrong one.
Read the Newport case study →
Complex site

Norlane, VIC

A fire-damaged Geelong site carrying both a council Emergency Order and a build-over-easement application, sequenced into a funded four-townhouse development. It shows how unresolved issues are staged and evidenced so a credit team can price them instead of declining them.
Read the Norlane case study →

More completed files sit on our track record, and the recurring structural problems are written up in insights.

Talk it through

If the settlement date is the constraint, say so first.

Siare arranges and structures development and commercial property finance. Our principal has assessed credit inside a bank, run a private credit fund, developed property and broked the deals, which is why the first conversation is about whether your timeline is genuinely achievable.

Bring the contract, the approval status and the exit. If it can be done, we will tell you what it depends on. If it cannot, we will tell you that too.

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General information for business and investment purposes only. This is not consumer credit, and it is not financial, tax, legal or accounting advice. Nothing here is an offer of finance or an indication that finance is available. All finance is subject to lender assessment, credit criteria, satisfactory valuation, security and documentation. Case studies describe individual past transactions and are not a guarantee, benchmark or prediction of any future outcome. Obtain your own independent legal, tax and accounting advice before entering into any transaction.