First Home Buyer Questions
The Queensland First Home Owner Grant is $30,000 for eligible first home buyers buying or building a new home valued at less than $750,000, including land. Read more in our Home Buyer’s Guide.
Eligible first home buyers pay no transfer duty on a new home or vacant land, and get a full or partial concession on established homes valued up to $800,000. Read more in our Home Buyer’s Guide.
For most standard residential properties, lenders look for 20 percent to avoid lenders mortgage insurance, though some property types need more. There are loans available with less, and government schemes and grants can reduce it further for eligible first home buyers. See First Home Buyer Loans.
Yes, for eligible buyers. The First Home Guarantee lets you buy with as little as 5 percent without paying lenders mortgage insurance, and a family guarantee can also help. See First Home Buyer Loans.
Bridging Loan Questions
A bridging loan lets you buy your next home before you’ve sold your current one. The lender covers both properties for a short time, then the sale proceeds pay down the loan once your existing home sells. See Bridging Loans.
The bridging period usually runs for 12 months or less, although some lenders offer longer terms.
It depends on the lender. Many let interest build up on the bridging portion and be paid when your home sells, while others ask for repayments along the way. Kyle can compare how different lenders handle it.
Lenders set a deadline for the sale, so it’s important to price your home realistically and plan for delays. If it doesn’t sell in time, the lender may review the loan or require a sale. Kyle will talk you through the risks before you commit.
Reverse Mortgage Questions
A reverse mortgage lets homeowners aged 60 and over borrow against the value of their home. You don’t make regular repayments. Interest is added to the loan, and the full balance is repaid when you sell the home, move into aged care or pass away. See Reverse Mortgages.
No. Reverse mortgages taken out since 18 September 2012 include negative equity protection, which means you can’t owe the lender more than your home is worth when it’s sold.
It can. How the money is treated depends on how you draw it and what you do with it. Check with Services Australia or a financial adviser before deciding, and we can take you through the loan side.
Possibly. Some lenders will consider retirees for a standard home loan if you can show you can repay it, and for homeowners aged 60 and over, a reverse mortgage may be an option. Kyle can talk you through what suits your situation.
Borrowing and Pre-Approval Questions
Pre-approval is a conditional approval from a lender, based on your income, expenses, deposit and credit history. It tells you how much you can spend before you house hunt. Formal approval comes once you’ve found a property and the lender has valued it and confirmed the final details.
Usually your ID, evidence of your deposit and savings history, a summary of your income, expenses, assets and debts, and proof of income. That means your latest payslips if you’re employed, or your last two tax returns if you’re self-employed.
From your first conversation with Kyle to full approval usually takes one to two weeks, depending on the lender and how quickly your documents come together.
Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) protects the lender, not you, if you can’t repay the loan. It usually applies when your deposit is less than 20 percent of the property’s value for standard residential properties. Find out more on our Borrowing Power Calculator page.
Local Area Questions
We’re based in Caboolture and work with home buyers across the Moreton Bay region, including North Lakes, Morayfield, Narangba, Burpengary, Elimbah, Dayboro, Bribie Island and Redcliffe, as well as the Sunshine Coast. See Areas We Service.
Yes. Our office is at 88 Cathy Ct, Caboolture QLD 4510, and Kyle works with buyers across Caboolture and the surrounding suburbs. See Mortgage Broker Caboolture.
Yes. We help buyers across North Lakes, Morayfield and the wider Moreton Bay region. See our North Lakes and Morayfield pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mortgage brokers are qualified finance industry professionals. They work with you to determine your borrowing needs and objectives, and to help you determine how much you can borrow. Brokers help to ensure that you don’t take out a loan that is not right for you. Like your solicitor, accountant or financial planner, we are specialists in what we do and will provide you with a suitable finance solution to help you achieve your goals. With a mortgage broker, you can expect a more personalised level of service than you would usually receive directly from a lender. Additionally, our brokers have access to finance products from a wide variety of lenders. This means your broker can compare lending products from different lenders to find a loan that’s just right for you.
Some mortgage brokers charge a fee for their services and some don’t. When you take out a loan via a mortgage broker, it does not cost you more in loan repayments. Brokers get paid a commission by the lender for bringing new business to them, but this does not impact your interest rate. Some brokers charge a fee for their service. They must disclose this fee upfront to you so that you know what it will cost if you engage their services.
Absolutely not. First of all, there is very little difference between the commissions paid by the various lenders. There is also legislation in our industry called the National Consumer Credit Protection Act (or NCCP), that is designed to protect consumers and ensure ethical and professional standards in the finance industry. We tell you upfront what commission we will be getting from the lender. Our job, our only job, is to find a competitive loan for your needs and objectives.
Some brokers charge a fee for their service which they must disclose to you up-front before you engage their services. However, the costs of the loan are the same. These costs depend on the loan and lender you choose. If you want to save on loan costs, just tell us. We can locate loan products from the lenders with the lowest fees and charges.
There are specific factors that need to be considered when determining how much a customer can borrow, such as income, employment position, the deposit saved, current living expenses and any liabilities. Our borrowing calculator can give you a rough idea of how much you may be able to borrow. For a more accurate assessment, please give us a call and we can go into your options and discuss your circumstances in more detail.
A mortgage broker will recommend a product based on what you say is most important to you – for example, “pay my loan off quickly” or “guaranteed repayments” or “low cost”. We do however, live by the following; “if you want flexibility take a variable rate loan, if you want budget certainty, take a fixed rate loan, if you want both, then do a split loan.”
Sure thing! We are mobile brokers so we can come to you.
We are Connective Brokers and we have access to many lenders. This means we can source you a loan from different lenders to provide you with a variety of options that are suitable for you and your situation.
Mortgage brokers do not set rates. The Reserve Bank of Australia meets eight times a year to set the official cash rate. Lenders then use this to set their own rates, and also adjust them according to their costs and other economic conditions.
Lenders will only sell you their own products. Each bank (or lender) has a variety of loan products on offer: low doc, package loans, loans with redraw facilities, plant and equipment loans, fixed rate loans, interest only, interest in advance, variable, introductory variable and so on. The issue you face as a consumer is ‘which loan is right for me?’ And that is where your mortgage broker becomes an invaluable resource!
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If you go direct to the bank, you will only be offered the loan options available through that one lender. As your mortgage broker, we do all the leg work to find the right loan for your needs. We are across many lenders and all of their loan products, and our sole purpose is to find a suitable loan to match your personal financial circumstances and goals.