Faq’s – ask a financial advisor

Over 70% of Australians use a consultant broker to source their loans and there are many good reasons why:

• It saves you time – imagine taking all of your information and having meetings with over 40 lenders to find the best loan? I am sure there are plenty of ways you’d prefer to spend your time!
• It’s Complimentary – Our services are 100% fee-free as we are paid directly by the lender that your loan settles with. In the interest of transparency and compliance, we disclose the amount of commission we are paid prior to application.
• It’s Easy – Once you have provided all the information you can sit back and relax while we do all the hard work
• It’s Fast – We have the facility to compare hundreds of products and lenders quickly. Once we have received all required information from you, we will compare the market to give you the choice of the best options for you within 2 business days
• It’s Comprehensive – I have access to over 40 lenders to compare for you. Not only do we search for the best interest rate, but look at all the loan and lender features to ensure it meets all of your needs.

See our brochure “Things to know about using a broker” in the useful resources section for more details.

No! In fact often you can get better deals than if you had gone directly to the lender yourself as brokers have more negotiating power than individuals. The loan you get through us is not inflated to cover the lenders’ costs.

Being self employed doesn’t mean you cannot get a home loan, but it does mean there are more things to take into consideration and can take additional planning. Every lender will interpret your tax returns differently and assess your borrowing power according to their specific policy. This can give vastly different borrowing capacity from one lender to the next, which is why it is important to know which lender will assess your situation in a manner that works best for you. We specialise in self employed lending, having worked in commercial banking for many years, I understand business financials and can interpret them to provide the best advice. We also work with your accountant to ensure all information and reports required by the lenders are provided up front to avoid delays.

There are a lot of options out there, and with the Reserve Bank moving official interest rates and banks able to move their rates independently, it’s an ever-changing market. Not to mention all the new products that are constantly being introduced. With choice comes complexity. It can get tricky to navigate through it all. And it can take a lot of your time (and sanity sometimes too).

Mortgage brokers have a legal duty known as Best Interest Duty (BID) to act in our clients’ best interest. This means we are legally required to act in clients’ best interest. This does not cover banks which is another reason to use a broker rather than go direct to the bank. When you talk to a lender, they can only advise you on their own products and will not compare their products to a competitors product for you, regardless if they are a better fit for you.

Many lenders don’t have branches that you can talk to a real person, and if they do, it is on their terms in their hours. We are flexible to work with you at times and places that fit YOUR schedule so you don’t have to take time off work to have loan appointments.

We will navigate the lenders to find a loan that suits your needs and not the need of one, particular bank. We will also spend time helping you to understand the products and features so that you are empowered to make the best choices for you. We then deal with the lender as well as conveyancers to manage the application process right through to settlement. We do this day in and day out – we know the lenders and their products, and keep up to date with changes when it comes to lender policies, products, and their different lending appetites.

We hear this all the time – “my friend told me you can’t borrow money if XYZ…” or “my friend got a loan with XYZ so that’s what I should do”. We all do it – we talk to friends/family/colleagues about our plans and they all have an opinion and advice on what to do. BUT would you see your mechanic about a sore tooth? Or take your car to your dentist for a service? Everybody’s situation is different and what might be the best loan for your neighbour isn’t necessarily the best fit for you. With so many options available, it pays to talk to a professional who knows all of the lenders’ products and policies in detail to get the right advice for YOU.

Our IT systems are protected with the latest cybersecurity and IT settings. We have a dedicated cybersecurity manager to ensure we are at the forefront of IT security. Your privacy and security is our number one priority and we have robust security protocols in place to keep your information secure.

You may be sent links to collect your private information including bank statements. We ensure bank level security with this and our systems are ASIC & ACCC approved. We use two factor authentification and your credentials are only stored for a short period of time (a few seconds) and are always encrypted.

We usually recommended clients organise a pre-approval before they start making offers on properties they wish to buy. This ensures you can borrow the required amount and that real estate agents know you are a qualified buyer. This assists you in your purchase decisions as you have a realistic expectation of what you can and can’t do.

By securing a pre-approval, you remove some of the stress when you find your perfect property as you’ll have already gone through the process of gathering all of your information and having the lender review it. This also reduces the amount of time it takes to get the unconditional approval and reduce the chance of missing out on your dream home.

There are slightly different requirements between lenders, but in general the lenders will always ask for:

• Identification documents
• Income documents such as payslips, tax returns, employer letters
• Bank statements to show your savings as well as liability information
• Property details such as rates notices and contracts for sale

We will request all of the information we expect to need from you upfront to save time during the assessment process, however there can be additional documents requested once the initial information is reviewed. We require these documents as a minimum to meet our own compliance standards.

Stamp Duty is a government tax imposed on contracts, with the amount usually calculated as a percentage of the contract value. It is vital to factor your State’s Stamp Duty into your budget when purchasing a property.

Based on your circumstances and where you live, you might be able to obtain a stamp duty exemption, or concessions (discount) against the purchase of your first home. Stamp duty laws get changed often, so be sure to check your State Government’s website for the most up-to-date information.

Try our online Stamp Duty Calculator 

These vary from State to State and over time, but a government grant is money you could be eligible for and can go towards the costs of buying your first home. If you’re building your home, there may even be other building grants you can apply for. There are also other incentives for first home buyers such as stamp duty concessions or exemptions, as well as guarantee schemes to avoid mortgage insurance. We can take you through the grants and schemes you may be entitled to.

If you don’t have a minimum of 20% deposit as well as funds to cover costs such as stamp duty, you will generally be required to pay for Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance (LMI) to borrow more than 80% of the value of a property.

LMI protects the lender from the risk associated with giving you a loan that is more than 80% of the property’s value. In the event that you default on your mortgage and the proceeds of the sale of your property fail to cover the remaining loan balance, the insurer pays the lender the shortfall. You can have your lender add the LMI fee to your total loan amount or pay it up front.

It’s important to know that LMI protects the lender only, not you. It shouldn’t be confused with income insurance, which replaces income if you’re unable to work, or mortgage protection insurance, which covers your mortgage payments in the case of death, sickness, unemployment or disability.

There are often concessions or exemptions for LMI for certain professions and even higher threshholds with some lenders. We can guide you through the details of these and which option will  work best for you.

There is actually very little difference between the commissions paid by the lenders. You can also rest assured that your interests in this respect are covered by law. The mortgage and finance industry has a legal duty known as Best Interest Duty (BID) which means we are legally required to act in your best interest. This legal duty does not apply to banks. We are required to present you with a selection of suitable loans from different lenders and tell you upfront what commission we will be getting.

Our only job, is to find the best loan for your needs and serviceability.