Wayne County · Metro Detroit
Bridge Loans in Detroit, Michigan
If you own a home in Detroit or the surrounding Metro Detroit suburbs, a bridge loan lets you tap your equity to buy your next home before your current one sells. When a well-located home in a strong-school suburb draws more than one offer, an offer that doesn't hinge on selling first can be what wins it. I'm David Keblaitis, a Michigan loan originator based nearby in Brighton, and I help Metro Detroit families plan this move.
The Detroit market and why buying first works here
Metro Detroit is really many markets in one. Within Wayne County you have Detroit's revitalizing neighborhoods alongside established suburbs like Dearborn, Livonia, and Grosse Pointe, each with its own pace and price point. Homes near strong schools and short commutes to downtown, the airport corridor, or the Oakland County job centers tend to move quickly and attract competitive offers.
That competition is exactly why buying before you sell matters here. When a well-located Metro Detroit home hits the market, sellers often see several bids, and an offer that isn't waiting on your current home to sell can compete with a higher offer that carries more risk. A bridge loan is what lets you make that offer while your equity is still tied up in your existing home.
Because a bridge loan is repaid when your current home sells, pricing that home right for its specific Detroit-area neighborhood is key to keeping the loan short and affordable. I factor your local sub-market into every plan, so your move is built around how homes like yours actually sell in your community.
Wayne County at a glance, September 2026
- Median sale price
- $219,950
- Average days on market
- 32
Source: Realcomp, September 2026 single-family statistical highlights (2026-10-07)
Detroit-area communities we serve
- Downtown & Midtown Detroit
- Dearborn
- Livonia
- Grosse Pointe
- Canton & Plymouth
- Northville
Michigan rules to plan around in Wayne County
- Homestead exemption on the old home. Owning two Michigan homes for a while doesn’t have to cost you the homestead (principal residence) exemption on the old one. With Treasury Form 4640 you can keep it for up to three years while the old home is for sale, not occupied, not leased and not used for business, once you have established your new Michigan principal residence. File by June 1 or November 1 of the first year and again each year by December 31.
Source: Michigan Treasury, Conditional Rescission of the Principal Residence Exemption (checked 2026-10-17)
- Transfer tax when you sell. When you sell, Michigan’s state real estate transfer tax is $3.75 for each $500 of value and the county tax is 55 cents for each $500 in counties under two million people (up to 75 cents in larger ones), and the seller pays both by law.
Sources: MCL 207.525 (State Real Estate Transfer Tax Act) (checked 2026-10-17); MCL 207.504 (county real estate transfer tax) (checked 2026-10-17); MCL 207.523 (seller is liable for the state tax) (checked 2026-10-17); MCL 207.502 (seller is liable for the county tax) (checked 2026-10-17)
- MSHDA in Wayne County. MSHDA’s MI Home Loan is for first-time buyers (no home owned in the past three years) statewide and repeat buyers only in targeted areas. Outside targeted areas, anyone who has owned a principal residence in the last three years is not eligible. If you own a home now, have a participating lender check the new home’s address and your situation before you count on MSHDA. In Wayne County, MSHDA's targeted areas include Dearborn, Detroit, Ecorse, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Inkster, Lincoln Park, River Rouge, Taylor and the City of Wayne.
Sources: MSHDA, MI Home Loan (checked 2026-10-17); MSHDA Targeted Areas flyer (2024-05-01)
More in the Michigan buy-before-you-sell guide and the comparison of ways to buy before you sell.
Learn more about bridge loans
Bridge loans across Michigan
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David Keblaitis, NMLS #167980, Cornerstone First Mortgage, LLC, NMLS #173855. Market figures are for the whole county and month shown, not a forecast or an estimate of your home's value.