Home loans, explained with ease.
Buying, refinancing, investing or restructuring. We find the right path, deal with the lenders and keep things moving, so your home loan gets done without the runaround.
Bloc has access to over 70 lenders. Self-employed, PAYG, income outside a usual payslip. We'll tell you early what a lender is likely to do with your application and be there every step of the way.
01 - THE TYPES OF DEALS.
Examples of loans Dan has supported across his career in lending. Strong borrowers, each matched to the lender who could see it.
Click the deals to see what happened.
-
Medical - $1.7M at 95%, no LMI
The need. A GP buying a $1.7m home, on an income that had just gone up, with a 5% deposit.
The block. Two problems at once. The pay rise wasn't in a full year's tax return yet, so the application was being read against last year's earnings and fell short. And at 95% of the value, lenders mortgage insurance is normally unavoidable: a five-figure premium added to the loan, paid interest on for years, insuring the lender rather than them.
The fix. Several lenders treat medical professionals differently on both counts, assessing on a shorter trading period with current evidence, and waiving LMI up to 95%. The work was finding the one whose policy did both.
The outcome. $1.7m approved on what they actually earn, at 95%, with no premium.
-
Self-employed - $2.4M refinanced, $12K a year saved
The need. A business owner refinancing a $2m home loan and adding $400k for a renovation.
The block. Their own bank read the personal tax return, saw a modest salary, and wouldn't extend. The profit retained in the company, the director's loan and the add-backs sitting in the financials never entered the assessment. The rate had quietly drifted above market as well.
The fix. Presented what the business actually earns the way a credit team reads it, then moved the whole position to a lender that would fund both halves as one facility and repriced it on the way through.
The outcome. $2.4m at half a percent lower, renovation included. At that balance it is worth around $12,000 a year.
-
Construction - $1.4M at residential pricing
The need. Build three townhouses on one site at a cost of $1.8M.
The block. Three dwellings is where most lenders stop calling it residential. It gets reassessed as commercial, the maximum loan drops to around 65 or 70 per cent, and the rate moves with it. Same project, materially worse terms, because of a line in a credit policy.
The fix. Assessed by a lender that still writes three dwellings on residential terms, and presented the project to suit how they assess it.
The outcome. 80% of the build funded, on residential pricing rather than commercial.
-
Renovation - $1M funded, no cash contribution
The need. A $1m renovation of a heritage listed property.
The block. Heritage work makes lenders nervous. The overlay limits what can be done, the as-if-complete valuation gets discounted, and the renovation ends up capped at a figure that doesn't fund the actual build.
The fix. Secured the facility against equity held in another property in the portfolio, so the funding wasn't limited by what a valuer would put on the heritage home mid-renovation.
The outcome. The full $1m funded, with no cash contribution at the start.
-
Debt recycling - $400K structured for the accountant
The need. Their accountant had recommended a debt recycling strategy. What they needed was a $400k facility structured so it would actually work.
The block. A standard home loan isn't built for this. Redraw and offset blur the line between borrowing for the home and borrowing for investment, and once those are mixed the accountant's work is undone at tax time.
The fix. Structured it as a separate split with its own loan account, so every dollar drawn for the investment is traceable and the home loan stays clean.
The outcome. $400k drawn down against a structure the accountant could work with, with the two kinds of borrowing kept properly apart.
-
Investment build - $1.2M at 90%, no LMI
The need. Build an investment property for about $1.35m, with a 10% deposit.
The block. Investment construction is where lenders get conservative twice over. Most cap investment lending below what they'd allow on a home, then want more equity again before they'll fund a build rather than a purchase. A 10% deposit puts you outside both.
The fix. Took it to a lender whose policy allows 90% on investment construction, with the facility drawn in stages against progress, and the borrower's profession removing the mortgage insurance that would normally come with it.
The outcome. 90% funded, built in stages, no premium.
Need this approach on yours?
That’s enough to start. Let’s have a fifteen minute chat and you’ll know where you stand.
02 - WHO COMES TO US.
Three situations we see constantly. Different circumstances, same problem: the form doesn't always have a box for how you actually live or earn.
-
First movers
First home, or close to it. You've saved, you've done the reading, and the amount of contradictory advice is doing your head in. Deposit, LMI, guarantor, government schemes, all of it arriving at once.
You shouldn’t need a glossary to understand your own mortgage.
-
Investors
Second or third property, an investment, or an upgrade with the timing of a sale and a purchase to line up. The structure matters more than the rate here, and almost nobody explains why.
The rate is the visible part. The structure is what it actually costs you over time.
-
Set and forget
You've had the same loan for years and quietly suspect you're paying for the privilege of not looking. Refinancing sounds like effort. It usually isn't.
Loyalty isn’t always a discount. One conversation will tell you whether it's worth moving.
03 - WHAT WE FUND.
-
Buying
First home purchases, including guarantor structures and government schemes
Upgrading, with a sale and purchase to coordinate
Bridging finance where timing doesn't line up
Construction and renovation lending
-
Investing
Investment property lending, single or across a portfolio
SMSF residential lending
-
Restructuring what you have
Refinancing, whether for rate, structure, or to release equity
Splitting, offsetting and restructuring an existing loan
Debt consolidation, where it genuinely improves the position
04 - CALCULATORS.
Want a rough number first?
Use our calculators to work out what you could borrow, what the repayments could look like, and what buying actually costs. Then read the bit that explains why a lender's number is usually different.
05 - WHY BLOC.
If your income doesn't look like a payslip.
Plenty of people earn well and still get treated as a risk, because the assessment was built around a fortnightly payslip and yours doesn't arrive that way. Company directors, contractors, sole traders, people with several income sources.
The difference isn’t usually your income. It's which lender sees it and how it's presented. Some accept one year of returns instead of two. Some add back expenses others won't count. Some understand a trust structure and some have never looked at one.
Sixteen years in commercial and SME lending means reading a set of financials the way a credit team does, and putting your income in front of the lender most likely to understand it and your business lending needs.
06 - THE PROCESS.
How your deal moves with Bloc.
No mystery, no chasing. You'll always know where you stand and what's next.
-
01 · The conversation
What you're trying to do, what's in the way, and what you've already been told. Usually an hour.
-
02 · The honest read
What you can likely borrow, what it'll cost, and what a lender will want to see. If something's going to be a problem, you hear it in week one.
-
03 · The application
Prepared properly and sent to the lender whose policy actually fits your situation, not whoever is quickest.
-
04 · After settlement
A review every year. Rates move, your circumstances move, and unlikely anyone at the bank is going to ring you about it.
07 - HOW LONG IT TAKES.
Most home loans run two to four weeks from complete information to approval. Where the structure is more involved, or where the lender is slower, it takes longer.
A very straightforward application with a clean, well-documented position has been approved in as little as 24 hours.
The two things that move it most are the lender and how complete your information is when we start. We pick the lender partly on how they will handle your situation, not only on the rate, and we tell you upfront exactly what is needed so nothing stalls halfway.
08 - YOUR PROTECTIONS.
How you're protected.
Home lending is regulated credit under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, which is a good thing for you.
It means any loan we arrange has to be not unsuitable for your circumstances, assessed against what you actually earn, owe and need. It means we have to ask questions that sometimes feel intrusive, and verify the answers. And it means you have a complaints path that ends with AFCA, an independent ombudsman, rather than with us.
We work under Australian Credit Licence 389328, held by Connective Credit Services, and the rules that come with it. That's not a constraint we work around. It's the floor.
09 - QUESTIONS.
Questions we’re often asked.
-
It depends on your income, your existing commitments, your living costs and the lender's own serviceability test, which assesses you at a rate a few percent above the actual one. Two lenders can reach very different numbers on identical information. We'll give you a realistic range early rather than an optimistic one.
-
Nothing. The lender pays us a commission when the loan settles, and we'll tell you what it is before you apply. You'll get that in writing in our Credit Guide.
-
No, though with a deposit less than 20% you'll usually pay lenders mortgage insurance, which protects the lender rather than you. There are guarantor structures and government schemes that change this, and whether they suit you depends on your circumstances.
-
Yes. The requirements differ, and lenders vary a lot in how they treat business income, add-backs and how many years of returns they want. This is a case where the right lender matters more than the advertised rate.
-
Pre-approval usually takes a few days to a couple of weeks. From application to unconditional approval is commonly two to four weeks, depending on the lender and how quickly documents come together. We'll tell you where your lender is currently sitting.
-
That depends on your circumstances and your appetite for certainty, and neither of us can predict where rates go. What we can do is set out what fixing gives up, mainly flexibility on extra repayments and offset, so you can make an informed decision.
10 - JARGON.
-
How much you're borrowing against what the property's worth. 80% is the line where most lenders stop asking for extra.
-
Insurance you pay for that protects the lender, not you. Usually triggered above 80% LVR.
-
A savings account linked to your loan. Money sitting in it reduces the interest you pay, without being locked away.
-
Extra repayments you've made that you can pull back out. Similar to offset, but the lender can change the rules on it.
-
The advertised rate plus most of the fees, so two loans can be compared fairly. Still not the whole picture.
-
A lender saying they'd probably lend you this much, subject to a valuation and a final check. Not an guaranteed approval.
-
Whether you can afford the repayments, tested at a rate a few percent higher than the one you'll actually pay.
-
Using one property as security for more than one loan. Easy to get into, awkward to get out of.
-
State government tax on property transfers. Rates, concessions and exemptions vary by state and by buyer type, and it's usually the largest upfront cost after your deposit.
Home loan jargon, said plainly.
11 - HOW WE GET PAID.
No charge to you. The lender pays us a commission when your loan settles, through our licensee. We tell you the exact dollar figure in writing before you apply, not after.
If your loan is repaid or refinanced early and the lender claws that commission back, we wear it. We will not pass it on to you.
Nobody shrinks their plans here.
Start with a conversation. Tell us what you're trying to do and we'll tell you where you stand, even before you found the property.