Home Loans Frequently Asked Questions

By applying for a home loan pre-approval, you can establish how much you can afford to borrow and look for houses within that pre-approved budget. Getting home loan pre-approval from St. George is a fairly simple process that can be completed within 15 minutes. 

The first step in this process is completing a home loan application. Once that application is submitted, a home loan expert from St. George will contact you to understand your requirements and your current financial position. You could also directly contact a home loan expert at the bank by calling 13 33 30 or by visiting your nearest branch. 

Once the application has been processed, the home loan expert will ask for some basic documentation to confirm your borrowing capacity. After this, you should be issued a home loan pre-approval, subject to certain conditions. 

Based on your home loan pre-approval from St. George, you can then find a property and make an offer. Your home loan expert will arrange to have the property valued and may request for more documentation, taking your home loan application to the next step. 

A Bankwest pre-approval home loan will give you a clear idea of how much you can afford to borrow, thus ensuring you restrict your search to houses within your budget. Not only will you save time, but you can also avoid a potential financial disaster if you happen to make an offer or a down-payment on a property and then realise you can’t afford it. A Bankwest pre-approval home loan can also tell the seller that you're serious about the purchase.

At the time of applying for a Bankwest pre-approval home loan, you will need to provide proof of ID, evidence of employment and regular income, details on your expenses, as well as any on-going debts. The lender might make enquiries about your credit rating too. Once you’re pre-approved, you will receive intimation on how much money Bankwest is willing to lend you.  

You can pay for your home loan straight from your pre-tax salary by salary sacrificing. Of course, this will depend on your employer’s policy. 

Salary sacrifice for home loans is offered exclusively for owner-occupied properties, so it cannot be used for investments.

Your employer may need to pay Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT), but non-profit organisations are exempt from this tax up to a certain limit. Some organisations may charge you an administrative fee to set this up. 

Keep in mind not all lenders accept salary sacrifice payments on your mortgage. Some lenders, like NAB, accept salary sacrificing for home loans.

Salary sacrificing won’t work for everyone, but in certain circumstances there are benefits to paying your home loan from your pre-tax income. These include reduced tax liability and potentially paying off your home loan quicker.

Having a baby or planning for one can bring about a lot of changes in your life, including to the hip pocket. You may need to re-do the budget to make sure you can afford the upcoming expenses, especially if one partner is taking parental leave to look after the little one. 

Some families find it difficult to meet their home loan repayment obligations during this period. Flexible options, such as the Westpac home loan maternity leave offerings, have been put together to help reduce the pressure of repayments during parental leave.

Westpac offers a couple of choices, depending on your circumstances:

• Parental Leave Mortgage Repayment Reduction: You could get your home loan repayments reduced for up to 12 months for home loans with a term longer than a year. 
• Mortgage Repayment Pause: You can pause repayments while on maternity leave, provided you’ve made additional repayments earlier.

When applying for a home loan while pregnant, Westpac has said it will recognise paid maternity leave and back-to-work salaries. All you need is a letter from your employer verifying your return-to-work date and the nature of your employment. Your partner’s income, government entitlements, savings and investments will may help your application.

While hunting for your dream home, getting a Citi home loan pre-approval can have multiple benefits, which include:

• You'll have an idea on your personal price range, which can save time to find your home.
• With a pre-approved home loan, you may find yourself with more financial control to better decide how much you can spend.
• A Citi pre-approved home loan is a commitment  by a lender that signals you're ready to jump into the property market.

You can apply for pre-approval by providing basic details, such as name, email, and phone number on the bank’s website. Alternatively, you can contact the bank on 1300 361 922 or find a home lending officer on the website.

Home equity is the difference between its current market price and the outstanding balance on the mortgage loan. The amount you can borrow against the equity in your property is known as a home equity loan.

A home equity loan is secured against your property. It means the lender can recoup your property if you default on the repayments. A secured home equity loan is available at a competitive rate of interest and may be repaid over the long-term. Although a home equity loan is secured, lenders will assess your income, expenses, and other liabilities before approving your application. You’ll also want  a good credit score to qualify for a home equity loan. 

As a couple, it's entirely possible that the credit scores of you and your partner could affect your financial future, especially if you apply for a joint home loan. When applying for a joint home loan, if one has bad credit, there may be steps that can help you to qualify even with bad credit, including:

• Saving for a higher deposit, ideally 20 per cent or more. Keep in mind:  a borrowed amount of less than 80 per cent of the property value also saves the cost of Lender's Mortgage Insurance (LMI).
• Consistent employment records, regular savings habits, and an economical lifestyle can help prove financial stability and responsibility. These can improve your chances of approval even if there are some negative marks on a credit report.
• Delaying your decision to buy a property until your partner’s credit score improves. Alternatively, you may want to consider a solo application.

While these tips may assist, if you find this overwhelming, consider consulting an expert advisor who can offer personal guidance based on your financial situation.

Qualifying for an ANZ home loan while you’re on maternity leave may require some research.

Much like other home loan applications, you'll need to be able to show the lenders that you’ll be able to pay the mortgage instalments on time, even during maternity leave, which can improve  chances of your home loan being approved. Your chances improve if you have savings, home equity, or if you receive any government-related benefits.

You’ll likely need  to provide no less than three payslips you received before the start of your maternity leave and a letter from your employer, with the letter stating the maternity leave terms such as the date on which you’ll return to work and the kind of employment (full-time, part-time, or casual) when you resume.

Your lender will likely consider the tenure of your maternity leave while assessing your loan application. Lenders also prefer if you are paid while on maternity leave; however, you may receive only half your salary, so the lender may not consider your regular income to determine the loan amount.

Qualifying for a home loan without a full-time job may be challenging, but it can be done. The first step is to understand how a CBA home loan is assessed when you have casual employment.

Most lenders will assess your expenses and savings while checking your loan eligibility, checking on factors crucial to home loan approval, such as if your bills are paid on time and what your credit score presently looks like. 

Your income can be one of the most critical factors to determine your final approved home loan amount. As such, you’ll need to provide payslip copies to lenders to assist them in assessing your income during the loan tenure, regardless of your employment status, full-time, part-time, or otherwise.

Casual employees will want to be casually employed for at least 12 months to be eligible for a home loan. Alternatively, you want to have worked as a permanent casual worker (working for a fixed number of hours per week) for at least one month, or you should have been in your current job for a minimum of three months (if the hours are irregular) to be eligible for the loan.

Applying for a home loan at Westpac is fairly simple. The process from initial application to settlement varies in its time frame. Some customers receive in-principle approval within a couple of days. 

You can initiate the process by filling out the bank’s home loan form and requesting a callback. A Westpac representative will get in touch with you within 24 hours. You will need to provide the following information to the representative during the call: 

• Total income
• Total expenses
• Details about all your liabilities and debts
• Information and value of all your assets. 

The Westpac representative will then share with you information about the types of home loans you may qualify for, along with an estimate of interest rates and applicable fees. 

Once Westpac has received all your details, loan preferences, and documents, the representative will assess all the information. If everything is in order, you may receive an Approval in Principle (AIP) within 2 working days. This specifies the amount Westpac is willing to offer for your home loan. 

Your Approval in Principle will often remain valid for only 90 days and if you don’t find a suitable property within that time frame, you need to apply for a renewal on your Approval in Principle. In this circumstance, if the Westpac representative confirms that there are no changes in your financial circumstances, your Approval can be extended for another 90 days. 

After you have found a home that matches the Approval in Principle, you will need a confirmed contract of sale before Westpac initiates the loan settlement. This process takes about 4-12 weeks or 2-5 days if you’re refinancing.