Does using a broker cost me anything?

For a standard residential home loan, the lender pays the broker a commission on settlement and there is no separate fee to you. Some complex or specialist files carry a fee, and where that applies we tell you the amount in writing before any application is lodged. Our Credit Guide sets out how we are paid.

How much deposit do I really need?

Below 80 per cent LVR you avoid lender’s mortgage insurance, which means roughly a fifth of the purchase price plus costs. You can buy with less, and many people do, but LMI applies and the assessment tightens. Stamp duty, legal fees and lender fees sit on top of the deposit and are often underestimated.

Will applying with you affect my credit score?

A conversation with us does not touch your file. A credit enquiry only happens when a formal application is lodged with a lender, and we do not lodge one until we have matched your circumstances to that lender’s policy. Multiple enquiries in a short window are visible for five years and read poorly, which is exactly why we assess first.

How long does a home loan take from application to settlement?

For a straightforward salaried application, formal approval commonly lands within one to three weeks, with settlement set by the contract. Self-employed, alt doc, construction and specialist files take longer because there is more to verify. Missing documents are the single biggest cause of delay.

I was declined by my bank. Is that the end of it?

Usually not. A decline is one lender applying one policy on one day. The useful question is why, because the answer changes the plan. A servicing shortfall, a valuation, a credit listing and a policy exclusion each have a different fix, and some of them are quick.

Can I get a home loan if I am self-employed?

Yes. Most lenders want two years of tax returns and financials, some will work with one year, and alt doc lenders will assess business bank statements, BAS and an accountant’s declaration instead. Add-backs such as depreciation and one-off expenses often lift the assessable income well above the taxable figure.

Can I consolidate other debts into a home loan?

Often, yes, if there is enough equity and the servicing works. Lenders treat it as a cash-out and will ask what the funds are for, with evidence for larger amounts. The trade-off is real: a shorter, expensive debt becomes a longer, cheaper one, and over thirty years that can cost more in total interest unless you attack it deliberately.

Should I fix my rate?

It depends on whether you value certainty or flexibility more, and on whether you are likely to sell, refinance or make large extra repayments during the fixed term. Break costs on a fixed loan can be substantial and are not capped. A split is often the honest middle ground.

What is pre-approval worth?

A properly assessed pre-approval tells you the ceiling you can bid to and gives an agent confidence. It is still conditional on a valuation and on your circumstances staying the same, and it expires, commonly after about three months. Automated pre-approvals that no credit officer has looked at are worth very little.

Do you only work with Melbourne clients?

Our office is in Port Melbourne and a lot of our work is across Melbourne and Victoria, but lending is national and most of a file now runs by phone, email and electronic signing. We work with clients in Sydney, Brisbane and regional Australia routinely.

A settled family home at dusk, the end point of a loan structured to be carried for years, not just approved once.

HOME LOANS

Home Loans

Buying, building, refinancing, or borrowing again with debt already in the picture. We read the whole situation first, then take it to the lenders most likely to fund it.

Talk to a broker 1300 015 267

Lender panel
40+
Combined experience
45+ years
Association
FBAA member
Dispute resolution
AFCA

Is this you?

If any of these are true, we can help.

Talk it through

First home buyers working out what deposit actually gets them to a contract.
Owners on a rate they have not looked at in three years.
Self-employed borrowers whose income does not arrive as a payslip.
Business owners carrying tax debt or unsecured debt alongside a mortgage.
Investors adding a second or third property and wanting the structure right.
Borrowers a bank has already declined once, for a reason nobody explained.

How it works

Three moves, in plain words.

01
The honest conversation
Twenty minutes on where you are, what you owe, what you earn and what you want. If something is wrong on your file, this is where it surfaces, not three weeks later.
02
Position and strategy
We model an indicative borrowing capacity, work out the LVR you are heading for, and pick the lenders whose policy actually matches your circumstances.
03
Documents and application
We collect the file once and package it properly. A well-presented application is assessed faster and questioned less.

Start with the true number

Talk to a broker 1300 015 267

What a broker actually does for you

A bank can only offer you the bank. We hold a panel of more than forty lenders, and every one of them has a different appetite. One will not touch a borrower with a paid default. Another prices it fairly. One counts only part of your rental income. Another counts more of it. The job is knowing which door to knock on before you knock, because every declined application leaves a mark on your credit file.

We collect your position once, assess it against policy rather than hope, and tell you where you sit before an application goes anywhere. If the answer is that you are six months away rather than ready today, you will hear that in the first conversation and you will hear what the six months need to contain.

The detail

The loans we write

Most people arrive with a situation rather than a product name. This is the map between the two.

Situation to structure
Where you are	What usually fits
Buying your first home	Standard purchase loan, often with LMI or a family guarantee
Paying too much on an existing loan	Refinance to a new lender or a repriced product
Cards, personal loans and arrears piling up	Debt consolidation into the mortgage, if there is equity
Tax debt sitting behind the business	Cash-out refinance or a secured tax debt refinance
Building or renovating	Construction loan with progress draws
Bought before selling	Bridging finance, closed or open
Income is business income	Full doc with add-backs, or alt doc
Defaults or arrears on file	Specialist or non-bank lending, with a plan back
Buying property inside super	A limited recourse borrowing arrangement

Deposit, LVR and mortgage insurance

Loan to value ratio is the loan divided by the lender’s valuation of the property. It is the single number that moves the most in a home loan file, because it decides whether mortgage insurance applies, how hard the assessment is, and often what you are charged.

How LVR changes the conversation
LVR band	What generally happens
80% or below	No lender’s mortgage insurance. The widest choice of lenders and the easiest assessment.
Above 80% to 90%	LMI applies. Lenders look harder at genuine savings, conduct and stability.
Above 90%	LMI is materially larger. Fewer lenders, tighter policy, and postcode restrictions in some areas.
Above 95%	Rare outside guarantee structures and government-supported schemes.

Where one loan sits against the value of the property

This single reading decides more than any other number in the file. At 88 per cent the loan is in mortgage insurance territory. Another $56,000, from deposit or from valuation, moves it under 80 and the panel, the pricing and the depth of the assessment all change with it.

Illustrative projection only. Not a quote and not an offer of credit.

View as a table

Band	Up to
No LMI	80%
LMI applies	90%
Specialist only	100%
A $616,000 loan against a $700,000 valuation	88.0%

Lender’s mortgage insurance is not for you

LMI insures the lender against loss if the property is sold for less than the debt. You pay the premium, usually capitalised onto the loan, and the insurer can still pursue you for a shortfall. It is not a bad thing in itself. For many buyers it is the difference between buying now and buying in three years, and three years of rent is a cost too. It just needs to be a decision, not a surprise at the end.

LVR: Loan to value ratio. The loan divided by the lender’s valuation, expressed as a percentage. It decides whether mortgage insurance applies and how hard the assessment runs.
LMI: Lender’s mortgage insurance. A premium you pay that insures the lender against loss, not you against anything.
Capitalised premium: An LMI premium added to the loan rather than paid in cash at settlement, so it is repaid with interest across the term.
Genuine savings: Funds you accumulated or held for at least three months and can evidence with statements. Generally required above about 90 per cent LVR.
Valuation: The lender’s own view of what the property is worth. It is the figure the loan is measured against, not the contract price and not the appraisal.

What a lender is actually assessing

Approval is not one test. It is four, and a file can pass three and still fail.

01Security. What the property is worth on the lender’s valuation, not on the contract price or your opinion.
02Servicing. Whether your assessed income covers the assessed repayment, with a regulatory buffer added on top of the actual rate and all your other commitments loaded in.
03Credit. Twenty-four months of repayment history on your file, plus defaults, judgments, enquiries and any insolvency history.
04Character and conduct. How your accounts have actually run. Overdrawn accounts, dishonours, gambling patterns and undisclosed debts are all read.

Servicing is where most files are lost. Lenders assess you at a buffer above the real rate, so a loan you could comfortably pay today still has to clear a higher hurdle on paper. They also apply a household expenditure benchmark, and if your declared living costs sit below it they use the benchmark instead. Credit card limits are assessed at the limit, not the balance, which is why closing an unused card can lift borrowing capacity more than a pay rise.

Four tests, one answer

Security — the lender’s valuation, not the price
Servicing — income against a buffered repayment
Credit — twenty-four months of history
Conduct — how the accounts have actually run

One credit decision

A file does not pass on average. All four have to clear, which is why a strong income does not rescue a valuation and a large deposit does not rescue conduct. Knowing which of the four is the weak one is the whole of the strategy.

General lender practice. Weightings and policy differ between lenders.

View as a table

In	Out
Security — the lender’s valuation, not the price	One credit decision
Servicing — income against a buffered repayment
Credit — twenty-four months of history
Conduct — how the accounts have actually run

The arithmetic a lender runs on a file, which is not the arithmetic a borrower runs at the kitchen table. — The assessment is done on a rate above the one you would actually pay, on benchmarked living costs rather than your own, and on card limits rather than card balances.

Documents to have ready

Files move at the speed of the slowest document. Getting these together before we start usually saves a fortnight.

Standard document set
Document	Usual requirement
Photo identification	Passport or driver licence, sometimes both
Payslips	Two recent, for salaried applicants
Employment confirmation	Contract or a letter, if you are newly in the role
Tax returns and notices of assessment	Two years, for self-employed applicants
Business financials	Two years of profit and loss and balance sheets
Bank statements	Three to six months of transaction and savings accounts
Liability statements	Current statements for every card, loan and buy-now-pay-later account
Savings evidence	Three months of accumulated funds where genuine savings apply
Contract of sale	Once you are purchasing
Rates notice	For a refinance or an equity release

From first call to settlement

01
The honest conversation
Twenty minutes on where you are, what you owe, what you earn and what you want. If something is wrong on your file, this is where it surfaces, not three weeks later.
02
Position and strategy
We model an indicative borrowing capacity, work out the LVR you are heading for, and pick the lenders whose policy actually matches your circumstances.
03
Documents and application
We collect the file once and package it properly. A well-presented application is assessed faster and questioned less.
04
Assessment and valuation
The lender assesses and orders a valuation. Expect at least one round of questions. We answer them so you do not have to.
05
Formal approval
Unconditional approval, with any conditions cleared. This is the point at which a purchase is genuinely safe.
06
Documents and settlement
Loan documents are signed, your solicitor or conveyancer books settlement, and funds move.
07
After settlement
We stay on the file. A rate review, an offset restructure or a second property is a phone call, not a fresh start.

When debt is part of the picture

This is the work we are known for. A mortgage is rarely the only debt in the room. There are cards running at revolving rates, a personal loan taken out to cover a quiet quarter, an equipment contract, and often an ATO balance that has been quietly compounding while everything else got paid first.

An ATO balance does not sit still. The general interest charge compounds daily, and it is charged whether or not the business had a good month. That is the whole problem in one sentence. Where there is equity in a property, a refinance can absorb those balances into one secured loan on a mortgage structure and a term you can carry, instead of a penalty structure you cannot.

Worked example · illustrative

Cards, a personal loan and a tax balance, brought into one loan

The situation: A business owner holds a mortgage on the family home and roughly $60,000 spread across two credit cards, a personal loan and an ATO integrated client account balance. Every repayment is being met and nothing is left at the end of the month.
The move: The mortgage is refinanced for a larger amount at a resulting LVR under 80 per cent. The cards and the personal loan are paid out directly at settlement and those accounts are closed, and the tax balance is cleared with a written statement of purpose and an ATO account statement attached to the application.
Where it lands: One repayment on a mortgage structure instead of four on short and penalty structures. The consolidated portion is split into its own loan account over a shorter term so it stays visible, and the repayment is set at the old combined level rather than at the new minimum.

A composite example, not a specific client. Any figures are indicative and outcomes depend entirely on individual circumstances and lender assessment.

It is not automatic and it is not right for everyone. Lenders ask what the funds are for, they assess the reason, and consolidating tax debt is a stated purpose they will look at closely. Our debt consolidation home loan page sets out exactly how that assessment runs, and the ATO debt consolidation hub covers the tax side in full.

Structure: fixed, variable, offset and redraw

We do not quote rates on this site, because rates change and quoting one would be a fiction by the time you read it. Structure, though, is worth understanding before you talk to anyone.

The structural choices
Feature	What it gives you	What it costs you
Variable	Flexibility, offset accounts, unlimited extra repayments	Your repayment moves when rates move
Fixed	A known repayment for the fixed term	Break costs if you exit early, and usually limited extra repayments
Split	Part certainty, part flexibility	Two loan accounts to manage
Offset account	Everyday cash reduces the interest charged, and stays yours to withdraw	Usually attached to a package or annual fee
Redraw	Access to extra repayments you have already made	The lender can restrict or reduce redraw, and the tax treatment differs from offset
Interest only	Lower repayments for a set period	Higher assessed rate, and a larger principal to repay afterwards

Offset and redraw look similar and are not the same, particularly if the property might ever become an investment. That is a tax question as much as a lending one. Ask a registered tax agent before you choose, not after.

Offset account

A separate transaction account whose balance is netted off the loan before interest is calculated.
The money stays yours. Withdrawing it changes nothing about the loan itself.
The loan balance never falls, which keeps the borrowed amount clean if the property later becomes an investment.
Usually sits inside a package or carries an annual fee.

Redraw facility

Extra repayments reduce the loan balance, and you ask the lender to release them back to you.
Access is at the lender’s discretion. Redraw can be restricted, reduced or withdrawn.
Taking money back out is treated as fresh borrowing, and what you use it for is what decides its treatment.
Usually free, and standard on most variable loans.

Run the numbers

See it with your own figures.

Indicative only. Change anything — the defaults are starting points, not quotes.

Who is applying

Applicant

Two applicants are assessed together, with each income taxed on its own.

Gross annual income

Before tax, before super.

Other annual income

Rent, bonuses, overtime, commission. Lenders count only part of it — see the shading field below.

Dependants

Children or others you support financially. Each one lifts the expense floor a lender will apply.

What goes out each month

Living expenses

Groceries, utilities, transport, insurance, schooling, subscriptions. Not rent you will stop paying, and not the new loan.

Existing loan and lease commitments

Car loans, personal loans, buy-now-pay-later, equipment finance, other mortgages.

Total credit card limits

The limit, not the balance. A card you never use still costs you borrowing power.

The assumptions — change these

Other income counted

Lenders shade variable income. Some count 80% of rent, some 70%, some less again for commission. This is a starting point, not a lender's policy.

Monthly charge on credit card limits

A share of your total limits treated as a monthly commitment. Lenders set their own figure. This one is a placeholder.

Surplus held back as a safety margin

Lenders will not let you commit every spare dollar. The rest goes to the loan repayment.

Assessment rate

A lender tests you at its product rate plus its own buffer, not at the rate you would pay. The figure here is an editable placeholder — it is not a rate we are quoting and it is not anyone's current rate.

Loan term

Read this before the number

Every lender assesses differently. Each one uses its own household expenditure benchmark for living costs, its own shading on variable income, and its own rate buffer. Two lenders looking at the same payslips can land more than a hundred thousand dollars apart. This tool is a rough indication built on the assumptions above. It is not a pre-approval, it is not a conditional approval, and no lender has seen your file.

Assumptions

Exactly what this calculator does with your figures:

Income tax is estimated on the resident individual scale applied here: nil to $18,200, then 15% to $45,000, 30% to $135,000, 37% to $190,000, and 45% above that. Rates and thresholds change each financial year — confirm the current scale with the ATO or your accountant.
The Medicare levy is applied at 2% of gross income once income passes the tax-free threshold. The low-income phase-in, the levy surcharge, HELP and HECS repayments, salary packaging, offsets and deductions are all ignored.
Each applicant is taxed on their own income. Other income is split evenly between applicants, then 80% of the after-tax portion is counted.
A minimum monthly expense floor of $1,500 per adult plus $450 per dependant is applied, and the higher of that floor and your own figure is used. On your inputs the floor is $1,500. This floor is a rough stand-in only. It is not any lender’s HEM benchmark — those are not published, and they vary by postcode, income and household.
Credit card limits are charged at 3.8% of the total limit per month, whatever the balance.
20% of the monthly surplus is held back, and the remainder is treated as the repayment a lender would allow.
The loan amount is back-solved from that repayment at 8.50% over 30 years, principal and interest, then rounded down to the nearest thousand.
Not included: lenders mortgage insurance, deposit size, loan-to-value limits, stamp duty, credit history, employment stability, self-employed income assessment, business or tax debt, and any lender-specific policy. Any one of these can change the answer entirely.

Indicative borrowing power

$519,000

A rough shape based on the assumptions you set. Not a pre-approval, and not a figure any lender has agreed to.

Assessed income, monthly: $7,590
Living expenses used: $2,600
Loan and lease commitments: $0
Charge on card limits: $0
Monthly surplus: $4,990
Treated as an affordable repayment: $3,992

Assessed income$7,590

Living expenses$2,600

Commitments and card limits$0

Left for a loan repayment$3,992

The only number that counts is the one a lender puts in writing. Bring us your payslips and your commitments and we will tell you where you actually stand, including which lenders read income like yours the way you need them to.

Get a real number

Open the full calculator

“Tell me the number. I have almost certainly seen worse.”

Dave Pham · Head Broker

Talk to Dave1300 015 267

FAQ

Questions people actually ask

If yours is not here, ask it. We would rather answer the awkward one early than have you find out later.

1300 015 267

Does using a broker cost me anything?: For a standard residential home loan, the lender pays the broker a commission on settlement and there is no separate fee to you. Some complex or specialist files carry a fee, and where that applies we tell you the amount in writing before any application is lodged. Our Credit Guide sets out how we are paid.
How much deposit do I really need?: Below 80 per cent LVR you avoid lender’s mortgage insurance, which means roughly a fifth of the purchase price plus costs. You can buy with less, and many people do, but LMI applies and the assessment tightens. Stamp duty, legal fees and lender fees sit on top of the deposit and are often underestimated.
Will applying with you affect my credit score?: A conversation with us does not touch your file. A credit enquiry only happens when a formal application is lodged with a lender, and we do not lodge one until we have matched your circumstances to that lender’s policy. Multiple enquiries in a short window are visible for five years and read poorly, which is exactly why we assess first.
How long does a home loan take from application to settlement?: For a straightforward salaried application, formal approval commonly lands within one to three weeks, with settlement set by the contract. Self-employed, alt doc, construction and specialist files take longer because there is more to verify. Missing documents are the single biggest cause of delay.
I was declined by my bank. Is that the end of it?: Usually not. A decline is one lender applying one policy on one day. The useful question is why, because the answer changes the plan. A servicing shortfall, a valuation, a credit listing and a policy exclusion each have a different fix, and some of them are quick.
Can I get a home loan if I am self-employed?: Yes. Most lenders want two years of tax returns and financials, some will work with one year, and alt doc lenders will assess business bank statements, BAS and an accountant’s declaration instead. Add-backs such as depreciation and one-off expenses often lift the assessable income well above the taxable figure.
Can I consolidate other debts into a home loan?: Often, yes, if there is enough equity and the servicing works. Lenders treat it as a cash-out and will ask what the funds are for, with evidence for larger amounts. The trade-off is real: a shorter, expensive debt becomes a longer, cheaper one, and over thirty years that can cost more in total interest unless you attack it deliberately.
Should I fix my rate?: It depends on whether you value certainty or flexibility more, and on whether you are likely to sell, refinance or make large extra repayments during the fixed term. Break costs on a fixed loan can be substantial and are not capped. A split is often the honest middle ground.
What is pre-approval worth?: A properly assessed pre-approval tells you the ceiling you can bid to and gives an agent confidence. It is still conditional on a valuation and on your circumstances staying the same, and it expires, commonly after about three months. Automated pre-approvals that no credit officer has looked at are worth very little.
Do you only work with Melbourne clients?: Our office is in Port Melbourne and a lot of our work is across Melbourne and Victoria, but lending is national and most of a file now runs by phone, email and electronic signing. We work with clients in Sydney, Brisbane and regional Australia routinely.

Credentials

Credit Representative 554029
ABN 20 672 801 651
FBAA member
AFCA external dispute resolution

Other ways we can help

Reading

Worth understanding first

All of home loans

Where we work

Start with the true number

One conversation, no credit enquiry, and a straight answer about where you sit and what would move it. If the answer is wait, we will tell you what the waiting needs to contain.

Or call us

1300 015 267

Monday – Friday, 09:00 to 17:30

“Tell me the number. I have almost certainly seen worse.”

Dave Pham · Head Broker

Talk to Dave1300 015 267

Home Loans

If any of these are true, we can help.

Three moves, in plain words.

The honest conversation

Position and strategy

Documents and application

What a broker actually does for you

The detail

The loans we write

Deposit, LVR and mortgage insurance

Where one loan sits against the value of the property

Lender’s mortgage insurance is not for you

What a lender is actually assessing

Four tests, one answer

Documents to have ready

From first call to settlement

The honest conversation

Position and strategy

Documents and application

Assessment and valuation

Formal approval

Documents and settlement

After settlement

When debt is part of the picture

Structure: fixed, variable, offset and redraw

Offset account

Redraw facility

See it with your own figures.

Questions people actually ask

Other ways we can help

Debt Consolidation Home Loan

Refinancing

First Home Buyers

Worth understanding first

What to Do Before You Apply

Fixed vs Variable in a Changing Market

Offset vs Redraw

Start with the true number