Who Azure Home Loans helps — nurses, doctors, tradies, self-employed and first-home buyers

How working with us works

Five steps, in order, so you know what is being asked of you and why. Nothing is lodged without your sign-off, and none of these steps is a credit approval.

1. 1

   Enquiry

   Tell us how you earn, what you hold for a deposit or in equity, and what you are trying to do. An enquiry is a conversation, not an application.

2. 2

   Income and document review

   We map your income type to the evidence lenders ask for — payslips and shift loadings, an employment contract, a practising certificate, or BAS and tax returns if you trade through an ABN.

3. 3

   Lender policy match

   Lenders read the same file differently. We compare how each one treats your income, existing debts and deposit, including any occupation-based concession you may be eligible for.

4. 4

   Assessment and lodgement

   If a lender fits, we prepare the application with your full position documented and lodge it. You see the numbers and the costs before anything is submitted.

5. 5

   Approval, settlement and review

   We stay on the file through assessment, valuation and settlement, then keep the structure under review as your income or goals change.

Responsible lending obligations apply throughout: before a loan is approved a lender must assess whether it is not unsuitable for you, and approval is never guaranteed.

How Australian lenders decide

Whichever pathway you are on, the same four things shape the answer. Knowing them is what keeps a surprise from turning up late in the process.

Responsible lending is a legal obligation, not a courtesy

Under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, a credit licensee and its representatives must make reasonable enquiries into your circumstances, verify what you tell them, and assess whether a loan is not unsuitable for you before recommending it. That is why the document list is not negotiable.

You are assessed at a higher rate than you would pay

Lenders test your repayments against a buffered assessment rate rather than the advertised one, and many apply a floor rate underneath it. APRA sets the buffer it expects of the banks it regulates and has revised it before, so the figure is worth confirming rather than assuming.

Declared expenses are compared against a benchmark

Most lenders measure your stated living expenses against a household expenditure benchmark scaled to your income and dependants, then assess on whichever figure is higher. Understating expenses does not increase borrowing power.

Policy is set by the lender, not the broker

How overtime, shift loadings, bonuses, commissions, trust distributions or a second year of trading are treated is each lender’s decision. Two lenders can reach different conclusions on an identical file, which is the specific problem comparing policy is meant to solve.

What changes with the state your property is in

Transfer (stamp) duty and first-home duty relief

Duty is a state and territory tax, assessed on where the property is — not where you live or work. Whether a first-home concession or exemption applies, and the value at which it phases out, differs in every state.

The First Home Owner Grant

The grant is administered by each state and territory, so the amount and the eligibility rules differ — including whether the home has to be newly built. Check your state revenue office for the current position.

Price caps on federal schemes

Commonwealth schemes such as the Home Guarantee Scheme are national, but their property price caps are set state by state and differ between capital-city and regional addresses.

These rules change. Confirm the current position with the relevant state revenue office before you settle on a deposit figure — this page is general information, not advice.

Key terms, defined

Plain definitions for the words that decide the outcome — including who carries the risk and who makes the call.

Mortgage broker

A credit assistance provider who compares loans across multiple lenders and arranges the application on your behalf. A broker is not a lender and cannot approve credit — the lender decides.

Credit representative

An individual or business authorised to provide credit assistance under another entity’s Australian Credit Licence. Azure Home Loans acts as credit representative 538895 under ACL 390261, which is held by Yellow Brick Road Aggregation Pty Ltd.

Responsible lending

The obligation under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 to make reasonable enquiries into a borrower’s circumstances, verify them, and assess whether a loan is not unsuitable before recommending it.

Serviceability

A lender’s assessment of whether you can afford repayments, tested at a rate above the one you would actually pay and using verified income against a benchmarked view of living expenses.

Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI)

A one-off premium, usually payable by the borrower, that insures the lender against loss — not the borrower. It generally applies when borrowing above 80% of the property value.

Occupation-based LMI waiver

A lender policy that removes LMI for borrowers in nominated occupations who meet that lender’s criteria. The eligible occupations, the maximum LVR and the evidence required are set by each lender and change.

Add-backs

Items in a business’s accounts that a lender may add back to profit when assessing self-employed income, such as depreciation or a one-off expense. Which add-backs are accepted varies by lender.

Pre-approval

A lender’s conditional indication of what it may lend, based on the information provided and usually subject to a valuation and final checks. It is not a guarantee of finance.