Skip to main content
Apply nowApply now
Direct private lending in most states
Call us anytime at 512-617-9400
Program 04
CRE Bridge in Tennessee
Short-term commercial debt while the Tennessee business plan runs.
Bridge debt to $10,000,000, up to 75% LTV, interest-only, on terms out to 24 or 36 months. It buys time to lease up, reposition or refinance. In Tennessee the numbers that shape a bridge file are the 40 percent commercial assessment ratio, the recording tax on the note, and a deficiency statute that starts in the lender's favour. Business-purpose only, and every structure is set in underwriting.
$10M
max loan
24-36 mo
terms
All types
property
Cash-out
available
Typical figures, subject to underwriting and market conditions. Not a commitment to lend.
How it works
Use bridge capital to reposition an asset, buy out a partner, or stabilize before a refinance. We move quickly on commercial deals that banks find too time-sensitive. When the asset is stabilized, we refinance you out of the bridge and into long-term permanent debt, which we also place in house, so you have a clear exit from day one.
Who it's for
Value-add commercial real estate
Repositioning and lease-up
Partner buyouts
Pre-stabilization holds
Typical terms
Loan amountUp to $10M
Max leverageUp to 75% LTV
TermUp to 24 to 36 months
RateFrom 9.00%*
PaymentsInterest-only
StructureBridge or cash-out
*Typical terms, subject to underwriting and market conditions.
Run your CRE Bridge numbers.
Pressure-test the deal in seconds with our free bridge loan calculator, no sign-up required.
Local FAQ
CRE Bridge in Tennessee, answered.
What does Tennessee charge to record a commercial bridge loan?
More than most states, and it scales with the loan. Tennessee taxes the debt itself. The indebtedness tax is $0.115 per $100 of debt with the first $2,000 exempt, paid by the mortgagor and remitted by the note holder, and every recorded debt instrument carries a legend stating the maximum principal indebtedness for Tennessee recording tax purposes. On a $5,000,000 bridge that is $5,747.70 at recording (4,998,000 / 100 x 0.115 = 5,747.70). If you are also acquiring, the realty transfer tax adds $0.37 per $100 of the greater of consideration or value, and in Tennessee the grantee pays it by statute. On assumptions there is no indebtedness tax where the seller stays liable, but a new contract cancelling the seller's obligation is new debt and is taxed. Model both lines before you size the bridge.
How is commercial property assessed in Tennessee, and what does that do to my carry?
At 40 percent of value, against 25 percent for residential. TCA 67-5-801 splits the assessment ratio by class: residential and farm at 25 percent, industrial and commercial at 40 percent. The same building at the same market value therefore carries a 60 percent higher assessed base as a commercial parcel, at the same local rate. On an interest-only bridge, tax is a pure carry line with no amortisation to hide it. Two things help: values are frozen between countywide reappraisals and there is no acquisition-value reset when you buy, and after a reappraisal the county must compute a revenue-neutral certified tax rate and hold a public hearing to exceed it. For the local rate and market conditions, see the metro page, for example Nashville commercial bridge loans.
What is a Tennessee lender's remedy if a bridge loan goes bad?
A non-judicial sale, then a deficiency statute that starts with a presumption in the lender's favour. This is worth understanding as a borrower, because it is priced into every bridge quote. Tennessee forecloses under the power of sale in a deed of trust: no clerk's hearing, no upset-bid period, three published advertisements with the first at least 20 days before the sale under TCA 35-5-101. On the shortfall, TCA 35-5-117, formerly 35-5-118, entitles the creditor to a deficiency judgment, gives it a rebuttable presumption that the sale price equals fair market value, and puts the burden on the debtor to prove by a preponderance that the property sold for materially less. Suit must be brought within the earlier of two years after the sale or the applicable limitations period. A borrower's real protection here is a business plan with a funded interest reserve, not the foreclosure statute.
Can I get a Tennessee deed of trust without a redemption period?
The waiver is standard drafting, and it is why the document language matters. TCA 66-8-101 provides that property sold under a deed of trust without judicial process may be redeemed within two years after the sale, but only unless the right of redemption is expressly waived, and the statute says waiving the equity of redemption or using similar language is sufficient to waive it. Competently drafted Tennessee deeds of trust carry that waiver, which is what makes the state's non-judicial remedy genuinely clean rather than clean on paper. We will not quantify how universal it is in practice, because that is not something we have a source for. Read your own instrument, and have Tennessee counsel review it before you sign.
Is there a Tennessee rate exemption for a commercial borrower?
No, and anyone telling you otherwise is copying another state's law. Tennessee has no business-purpose, entity, or large-loan usury carve-out. TCA 47-14-103 sets the maximum by the form of the transaction, not the borrower or the purpose, so a $5,000,000 loan to a Tennessee LLC sits under the same formula-rate ceiling as a small consumer note. The formula rate at TCA 47-14-102 is prime plus four points, capped at 24 percent per year. TCA 47-14-113 separately limits loan charges to fair and reasonable compensation for a real expense or service and restricts commitment fees to what is fair for the commitment made. Points not tied to an actual expense or service can be recharacterised as interest. That is why a Tennessee bridge quote should break out its charges line by line.
Who runs the closing on a Tennessee commercial bridge?
A title or escrow company, and the borrower generally gets to choose it. Tennessee is a title and escrow state: no attorney is required to close, and title companies and escrow agents customarily handle it, though deed drafting for another party is the practice of law under TCA 23-3-103. Legislation effective July 1, 2025 gives the buyer or borrower the right to choose the settlement agent subject to lender approval, and the right cannot be waived by agreement. One caveat we will state plainly: the commentary on that statute is residential throughout, and whether it reaches commercial transactions is not settled in our sourcing, so confirm it with your closer on a commercial file rather than assuming.
What credit score do I need for a Tennessee bridge loan?
There is no minimum score on this program. Bridge is asset-based, so credit is run but carries far less weight than it would at a bank. The file turns on the asset, the business plan and the exit. Weaker credit is generally answered with lower leverage rather than a decline, and there is no hard credit pull to start. What actually sizes a Tennessee bridge is the value, the in-place income and how credible the takeout looks. Subject to underwriting.
How much equity do I need in a Tennessee bridge deal?
At least 25 percent, because we lend up to 75% LTV. On a $4,000,000 Tennessee asset that is up to $3,000,000 from us and $1,000,000 from you (4,000,000 x 75% = 3,000,000), before closing costs. Facilities run to $10,000,000, interest-only, on terms out to 24 or 36 months. Add Tennessee's recording tax on the note and, on a purchase, the transfer tax paid by the grantee. Residential and small bridge files typically fund in 5 to 7 days once title and insurance come together. Subject to underwriting.
More CRE Bridge questions, answered on the program page
Resources
Guides for CRE Bridge
Rates & Costs · 5 min read
Hard Money Loan Rates and Costs, Explained
Read the guide Bridge · 4 min read
What Is a Bridge Loan in Real Estate?
Read the guide Getting Funded · 4 min read
LTV vs LTC: What's the Difference?
Read the guide Getting Funded · 4 min read
How Fast Can a Hard Money Loan Close?
Read the guide More in Tennessee
Other programs in Tennessee
Fix and FlipUp to 90% / 100% rehabRental / DSCR30-yr fixed, DSCR from 0.75Ground-Up ConstructionUp to 70% LTV, most statesTransactional FundingSame-day double-close capitalBank Statement / No-DocNo tax returns requiredConventional InvestmentNon-owner-occupied investmentPortfolio LoansMultiple properties, one loanCRE PermanentLong-term agency & permSBA Financing7(a) & 504 placement
About the local figures on this page
Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.
Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-23.
Funding Tennessee deals fast.
Get real terms, usually same day. No obligation, no hard credit pull to start.