If you need some short-term financial assistance when you are in between selling your old house and buying your new one, then what you need is known as a "bridging loan". You can use this loan to purchase your new property even though you are yet to sell your old one. Of course, when you sell your old property, you use the proceeds to repay the loan. This type of loan can also finance a business concern, in that having applied for a business loan you can use a bridging loan to keep the business running until you actually get the business loan. Bridging loans are secured loans in which you use a residential or commercial property as collateral. This type of loan has a time limit, which I believe to be two years, but the loan period can be as little as a few days or weeks. The good news is?these loans are not difficult to obtain and can be set up quickly. The bad news is that the rate of interest is sky high, and so only use these types of loans for bridging gaps between transactions. If you take out?this type of?loan be sure that you comply with the terms of the loan and repay it as agreed, otherwise you could find the property being repossessed by the lending company. The interest rate charged does depend largely on the value of the property involved and the credit score of the borrower. It goes without saying that you must pull out all the stops to sell your property as soon as you take out one of these loans, as you will need the funds to purchase the new property, and of course, keep the interest charges within reason. Even people with a poor credit record can obtain a bridging loan, but as usual, the rate of interest will be even higher. Look at all the angles before you even think about taking out one of these loans, or you could get yourself into deep water.