When you boil it all down, residential mortgage lending consists of purchasing a property or refinancing a current property. There are plenty of different subsets/ policies/ nuances/ stuff that falls out of this but the “services/ what we do” page for mortgage broking websites can become mind blowingly complex and looooong. Check it out below, if you don’t see something you have a question about then ask- or if you do see it ask as well! We have also explored some of these “nuances” for you below 🙂
Purchase
This involves lending associated with the acquisition of a property, as above there are nuances galore, but if this is what you want to do then I assure you that is something we do!
From trusts to companies and sole traders, and everything in between! Armed with an economics degree and background in financial planning if I haven’t seen the structure before it doesn’t exist! This background allows my team and I to really get to the bottom of understanding what income we can use for a loan and who best to place it with.
Lender policies around the self employed vary widely and it is imperative to get this right the first time.
We love our employees… and also our employed clients! Whilst we are able to look at some weird and wonderful financials we are also very well placed to deal with standard employee contracts… its just generally that easy that it doesn’t really need too much to be said!
There are some quirks like moving to a new job or getting a payrise or when it comes to overtime/ commissions/ and bonuses but ultimately this is a pretty safe space. But, I didn’t want you guys to miss out so made sure you got your own box of info too!
As a police officer in another life (well in my twenties when I was actually fit!) I am hugely supportive and grateful for the incredible efforts our emergency services personnel do. With a wide range of allowances, overtime and fringe benefit arrangements in place an application can easily and quickly become a back and forth between loan assessor (from the bank) and the client.
We overcome and are able to navigate this potential quagmire by our intimate knowledge of this area, from cardigan allowances through to involuntary superannuation packaging.
With a plethora of fantastic grants and schemes out there currently there has never been a better time to understand everything that is or may be on offer. You don’t want to make a move that might cost you big dollars if you had only known what you could have done.
Some schemes are also lender dependent, so if you were to walk into the wrong bank they wouldn’t even mention the scheme to you as they aren’t even a part of it. When it comes to buying your first home a broker is a no brainer if only just because of this!
There are many, many different ways to skin this particular cat! From bridging, to selling then buying, to selling + buying simultaneously, to buying with long settlement periods and every nuance in between!
Every situation is completely different, but at the same time nothing is different under the sun- in that whilst every situation is unique as a combination there are very few things we haven’t seen in the process, and it is those 1%’ers, those “nuances” that can make all the difference between a very easy process and one that is fraught with difficulty.
From house and land packages, to buying land and sitting on it for a while, to knocking down half your house and renovating we have seen it all and can find a solution for pretty much every situation!
We are also keeping up to date with what is out there on offer (in particular govt incentives) to building or renovating a property and combining those with the finance element to ensure we are leaving no stone unturned!
Purchasing an investment property can be really daunting the first time, and can get pretty tricky once you get a few strung along as well! Lender policies vary vastly around this space and it is really important to plan out what you want and are able to do in this space long term.
From getting the right preapprovals in place to understanding the different purchase rules around the country the only place that has eluded me for a purchase so far is the Northern Territory, but even there it is a relatively simple process anyway!
Refinance
This involves lending associated with a property that you already own. Also nuances aplenty!
This is always one of the big ones that people ask about when looking to really fine tune their current lending. This can be relatively complex task at times when we are looking at multiple properties and matching affordability for lenders up with current incomes and possible future decisions along investment lines, but this is absolutely our bread and butter!
In the 2021 financial year we settled loans with 20 different lenders, what does this mean? It means we don’t just know 2 or 3 different lender policies, it means we actually care about matching someone’s personal circumstances with their lending needs. It means that despite it being more difficult to keep track of as many policy options as we do, we do it anyway because it is the right thing for the customer. I would always recommend asking your broker this question, and the answer is on their credit guide (which by law is required to be given to you), so its pretty easy to find out… even if they say they are unsure!
This too is an area which in and of itself is nuanced to a pretty substantial amount, from your total knock down rebuild to a few thousand dollars for some new turf, we can do it all!
In very basic terms the main variables we are looking at are serviceability, equity in the property, amount required for the renovation, and whether the work being undertaken is structural in nature or not. These variables influence lender choice and whether we require things like build contracts or quotes or simply a summary of what is being done!
This is an area that has the possibility to save a client big money depending on the situation, but also has the potential to start looking at debt in the wrong way!
Whilst consolidating debt onto a home loan can reduce the interest rates it may also elongate the time taken to pay off those debts, through the right structures and conversations we aim to ensure that what we are doing is making a real impact not only on your back pocket but also how you think about different types of debt long term.
This term is thrown around like nothing else, and in very basic terms is the difference between your loan and the value of the property. For example a $1M property value with a $500k loan balance would have $500k (equity) available.
There are various different lenders and different ways to be able to gain access to this equity, and a plethora of ways to then use this equity all the way from investment properties, to other investments, to home improvements, through to cars, and even holidays or weddings! We can guide you along what you can and can’t do and what lenders will allow you to do it!
Online Services
Are we able to organise finance and complete the entire process without ever physically meeting? The answer is yes! This is something we specialise in for the busy individual (haven’t met many non-busy people!), and its all about making the process simple/ easy and strealmlined!
So as you can see I have given this little baby a section all to itself! Basically because in my mind it should!
Why? Basically because it is something unique in the market, whereby a broker is able to work with you on a completely remote basis, but feel like they are right there with you during meetings, loan document signings, and in between for every and any weird and wonderful question that comes up!
As the digital age gets more and more sped up and our lives become busier and busier its good to know you can have a meeting with someone at 8pm in the comfort of your own home and not need to wash the dishes beforehand! Simply jump into Zoom (what we generally use but can use just about anything).
In this way you have access to a traditional broker based here in Australia, but regardless of whether you are the next suburb over or the next state over you have the option of catching up on a completely remote basis.
If this sounds good jump start the process by booking in a Zoom call today!