I'm interested in learning as much as possible about the details of bridge loans.

Usually this would be a bridge loan that you would be able to refinance into a longer rental property loan once you get higher rents/tenants in place. 

Matthew graduated from Stone Bridge HS in Loudoun County and furthered his education at Greensboro College in NC pursuing a business degree.

You could refinance out with a 2 year bridge with the option to extend to a third year.

The reason we hear the most is that the debt got messy with the introduction of payment reserves by the agencies or flat-out freezes on new originations by bridge groups.  

., I think you're best options for financing for this type of project would be a bridge loan/mezzanine financing, hard money, or what would be even better, if you can find some partners to go in on this project with you - who can put up the funds and you split the profits somehow according to the roles that will be played out during this project.

Jared - often we find investors are using different bridge lenders to acquire, rehab and secure a renter, then they refinance to permanent loan/lender after renter is in. 

We haven't really chomped through the buy and hold thought process yet though, so we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.Currently, we have very little experience in real estate, and have yet to close our first deal, but this week we've started contacting realtors to start putting in offers.

You could find a transactional lender(bridge loan, transactional funding), then what you do is orginize the closing date for the same day.

The FHA can be tough when trying to buy properties in disrepair, but the 203K loan works as a bridge to get you into the property much easier, especially one that might need alittle TLC before the FHA will pass it.Shortsales are another good one to look at, but they usually take alittle more time unless they have been pre-approved for price by the bank.