Buy before you sell in Arizona — without paying Knock's 1.25% fee
Knock, Homeward, Calque, Orchard, Flyhomes — they all solve the same problem with the same playbook: charge you a program fee on top of a traditional mortgage. There's another way. Bridge loans and HELOCs have been doing this for 40 years. They cost less.
Why the iBuyer programs cost more
Knock, Homeward, Orchard, Calque, and Flyhomes each operate a variation of the same model. They guarantee to buy your current home if you can't sell it within their window. To make that guarantee economically rational, they charge a program fee — typically 1% to 1.5% of the new purchase price.
Then they finance your new home with a traditional mortgage from one of their lender partners. So you pay normal mortgage fees plus the program fee. On a $400K house, that's $5,000 to $6,000 you wouldn't pay with a direct bridge structure.
Bridge loan structure (Mike's preferred for AZ)
A bridge loan is a short-term first or second mortgage against your current home, structured to be paid off when the current home sells. Cornerstone's bridge product runs 6 to 12 months, interest-only, with no prepayment penalty.
Typical bridge loan cost on a $400K Arizona scenario: 1.5–2.5 origination points ($6,000–$10,000), interest at roughly 9–11% on the bridge amount only, paid off at the sale closing. Net cost for a 90-day bridge: ~$3,500–$5,500 all in.
Cheaper than Knock for any buyer whose home will sell in under 6 months. Most do.
HELOC structure (cheapest for high-equity sellers)
If you have substantial equity in your current home and good credit, a HELOC drawn against the existing property is the cheapest bridge path. Most banks issue HELOCs with $0 origination and rates tied to Prime + a margin (currently ~8–9.5%).
Draw the HELOC for the down payment. Use it as cash to make a non-contingent offer on the new home. Pay off the HELOC at the current home's sale closing. Cost on a 90-day cycle: $1,000–$2,500 in interest, $0 in fees.
Side-by-side cost comparison
| Approach | Up-front fee | Holding cost | Tied to new home title? | Time to close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knock / Homeward / Orchard | $5,000–$6,000 | $2,500–$4,500 | Yes | 30–45 days |
| Direct bridge loan | $6,000–$10,000 | $3,500–$5,500 | No | 21–28 days |
| HELOC on current home | $0–$500 | $1,000–$2,500 | No | 14–21 days |
| Sell first, rent, then buy | $0 | $8,000–$15,000 moving + rent | No | 60–90+ days |
Common questions
Why doesn't every lender offer bridge loans?
Bridge loans are short-term and require manual underwriting. Many lenders avoid them because they don't fit standard agency guidelines. Cornerstone keeps bridge in our product set because Phoenix-area sellers need it constantly.
What if my current home doesn't sell within 6 months?
We extend the bridge or refinance it into a longer-term loan against the current home. We've never had a bridge loan that we couldn't resolve before forced sale — most homes in the Phoenix metro sell well within 90 days.
Can I use a HELOC if my current home is already listed?
Most HELOC lenders won't fund if the home is on the market. Get the HELOC first, then list. We coach this timing carefully.
Do bridge loans require a non-contingent offer?
Not technically, but the whole point of bridge financing is to make non-contingent offers. Otherwise you can just write a contingent offer and skip the bridge entirely. The bridge buys you the seller's confidence that no home-sale contingency will torpedo the deal.
How Mike + Cornerstone help
I structure bridge and HELOC scenarios constantly for Phoenix-metro move-up buyers. I'll tell you which path actually saves you money for your equity position, sale timeline, and target purchase. If sell-first-then-buy is genuinely cheaper than bridging, I'll tell you that too.
Talk to Mike first Get pre-approved
No pressure, no commitment. Free 20-minute consult. Mike will look at your scenario and tell you straight whether this works for you.