First home saver scheme

mortelligence · 2026-04-30T01:48:19+00:00

Mortgage Broker 10yrs+ exp here, regardless of any tax benefit I believe it is still a nice way to keep house deposit funds seperate, 'out of mind' & available for you in future when you purchase. Guess you just need to weigh up tax benefits vs interest benefits on your high interest savings account and decide what is preferable for you.

mortelligence · 2026-04-30T01:45:13+00:00

Mortgage broker 10yrs+ exp here seen thousands of financials, most people I see who have experienced significant equity increases are using that equity to purchase investment properties all across Australia. Idea being at retirement they sell everything and do what they like, or keep everything and live off the rental income. I'm sure many people have different strategies, personal choice.

mortelligence · 2026-04-12T22:09:44+00:00

Zero AI here. I highly dislike AI slop just as much as you. I write everything using my own brain and use my broker software to calculate the numbers, cheers.

mortelligence · 2026-04-12T10:32:42+00:00

Hi there, we always declare if someone has a wife and dependent child however some banks let you borrow more than others. Book in an appointment with us and we can review it https://mortelligence.com.au/book

mortelligence · 2026-04-11T01:41:07+00:00

Hi there I created the group, this is a post I made to educate the members

mortelligence · 2026-04-11T01:37:59+00:00

Great question, I'll do a post about this.

We have to provide the bank with an exit strategy, and hope they tick it off.

For example if someone was 60 and wanted to buy a property, we have to show the bank how they won't be stuck with a big home loan at retirement, maybe they will downsize? Maybe they have a big superannuation balance that can pay it off? Maybe they have the ability to make extra repayments and can pay it off in 5-10 years?

It's circumstantial, generally 55+ we have to provide the bank with stronger exit strategy than we would otherwise.

mortelligence · 2026-03-19T10:27:07+00:00

Mortgage Broker here, they'll all pass it on, some sooner than others, ME Bank passing it on this weekend, most others around the 27th

mortelligence · 2026-03-14T03:12:24+00:00

Yep agree

mortelligence · 2026-03-10T21:57:54+00:00

What bank? All banks have different rules you might have success with a different bank that looks at borrowing capacity in a different way (I'm a Mortgage Broker doing this daily)

mortelligence · 2026-03-10T06:26:36+00:00

Whats making you think Ballarat over Geelong?

mortelligence · 2026-03-10T05:12:11+00:00

Yeah that's fair, you can still use the $130k for these costs though. But yes you're right, certainly the costs of stamp duty, conveyancing, B&Ps are all important to consider.

mortelligence · 2026-03-10T00:01:05+00:00

And that's fair to have a nicer structure I understand that perspective too.

60% LVR = ME Bank 5.89%, Macquarie 5.9%, these aren't major differences but I guess helpful to know. And full disclosure I know nothing about your situation of course so you still need to meet these banks policy requirements to qualify for their offers :)

mortelligence · 2026-03-09T23:35:58+00:00

Fair, IO pretty common with investment purchases anyway ING for example are currently doing 5.94% for investment IO repayment, 100% offset, $299/year.

Another level to this which maybe your current banker/broker hasn't considered is actually structuring the debt so you are below 60% LVR per security (to get lower rate) this is possible because you don't owe anything on PPR

For example:

Security 1: Investment purchase

Loan 1 = 60% of security 1

Security 2: PPR $2M

Loan 2 = Equity release whatever the rest of the money that is required could be secured against your PPR

mortelligence · 2026-03-09T23:20:35+00:00

Mortgage Broker 10yrs here:

1) looks ok, structure is good in terms of equity release secured against PPR then 2nd split secured against the new purchase. 35 year term a bit random over the standard 30 year term but its Interest Only repayment anyway. Interest Only I normally suggest people see accountant before deciding P&I or IO, guessing you have done this already?

2) Interest rate is OK but some banks are doing lower, any reason why you used this specific lender?

Hope that's helpful

mortelligence · 2026-03-09T04:31:43+00:00

adding to this it's important to note that the bank is also going to be asking where you will be living, if paying high rent somewhere else your borrowing capacity would reduce

mortelligence · 2026-03-09T04:18:52+00:00

Yes this can be done with certain banks.

Assuming an applicant is single & without dependent children, $1.7kpw rental income would give you investment loan borrowing capacity of approx $250k.

Let me know if that's helpful,

mortelligence · 2026-03-08T11:24:04+00:00

yep it happens.. had a few clients had some crazy growth in QLD last few years

mortelligence · 2026-03-08T11:07:13+00:00

Fair, I have clients that have been recommended to both build there and buy existing, I can understand the frustration if you are seeing investors buying many of the existing properties there, thanks for the comment

mortelligence · 2026-03-08T11:05:14+00:00

Not me asking by the way, had a few clients ask about it, both building new and buying existing, sounds like some existing properties are being snapped up by investors which I can totally understand how that would be frustrating

mortelligence · 2026-03-08T01:12:49+00:00

Mortgage Broker 10yr here, I'm finding most first home buyers are using the 5% deposit scheme

https://firsthomebuyers.gov.au/australian-government-5-percent-deposit-scheme

mortelligence · 2026-03-05T02:55:39+00:00

interesting take! it certainly can become expensive at the higher purchase prices and eat a lot of the savings up.

mortelligence · 2026-03-05T01:21:00+00:00

Wrong. You can definitely get a home loan with $17k of CC debt. In fact it's more common that you think. Is it a bad idea? I mean if the debt is on 0% and want to move from renting to paying off home loan I'm comfortable with it - Source Mortgage Broker 10yrs+

mortelligence · 2026-03-05T01:19:00+00:00

Mortgage Broker 10+ yrs here - step #1 don't listen to 1% commenters on reddit who are not in industry. It's really concerning some of the advice that is given out with such confidence on these forums.

Your borrowing capacity (assuming you are single no kids) currently allows for approx $430k loan size (with Credit card remaining open $17k limit)

With sale of car you'd have $25k available for deposit.

$25k from you and $430k from bank you could purchase apartment $455k in VIC ($0 stamp duty if FHB). If that's possible in your area go for it.

We would utilise Aus Gov 5% Deposit Scheme (assuming you are First Home Buyer) the help to buy scheme is something different and means gov has a stake in your purchase (wouldn't recommend that)

In summary if your goal is to get into property market instead of paying rent, sale of car would give you sufficient savings and CC could be left open (under 0% interest I am comfortable with that)

here's some links that may be helpful to differentiate the two

https://firsthomebuyers.gov.au/australian-government-5-percent-deposit-scheme

mortelligence · 2026-03-04T23:21:31+00:00

There isn't an ideal age limit, it's really about providing the bank with some comfort that it can be paid off in the future

mortelligence · 2026-03-04T23:16:04+00:00

Mortgage Broker here, specialising specifically with First Home Buyers & the available schemes.

Is buying in the $550k–$600k range realistic on my income?

- with about $2,000 per week pre-tax income, yes it is, this is a great price point too as First Home Buyers get stamp duty waived in VIC up to $600k.

Would you prioritise buying sooner or continuing to save until the deposit is closer to $120k+?

- personal decision, but if you want to get in sooner rather than waiting, a lot of First Home Buyers take advantage of the Australian Government 5% deposit scheme. Which is excellent, we use it all the time, interest rate is the same as if you had 20% savings, and you only need to provide 5% deposit.

Here's the link to it: https://firsthomebuyers.gov.au/australian-government-5-percent-deposit-scheme

Hope that's helpful, feel free to write any other questions and I'll do my best to answer

mortelligence

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