You just scored that new job, changed careers for more stimulating work opportunities or have been head hunted due to your professionalism and strong work ethic. Despite all the excitement that comes with changing jobs, you could be subject to a probationary period. Often the length of probation is written in your employment contract. It could be three to six months, sometimes longer! During this time you may wish to finance the purchase of a new home. But what if you can’t get approval! Some banks are less inclined to lend to those on probation, due to the higher risk involved. You may be a working professional with lengthy experience within your industry and your salary may have increased substantially, so why should a probationary period stop you from buying that dream home? The right broker will ensure that you are approved!

Generally banks are more inclined to lend to those once the probationary period is over. This is because they see a probationary period as a reflection of your unstable employment situation. Lenders prefer those who have full time employment and not those that are still unsure as to whether they will secure a permanent place within a company.

Your chances of approval are higher if you are changing departments or jobs, within the same field or industry. Lenders want to see oppurtunistic people with a good track record of employment. Not those that tend to move from job to job. These are all factors that banks take into consideration when assessing your application for a home loan, while you are on probation.

For those of you who are yet to commence work, have just finished university and are looking to enter into the workforce, there is still a high chance of approval if you are moving into the same field that you studied in. Your situation will be more favourable if you have studied for over two years and can evidence this. This is similar for those of you who may have recently taken maternity leave and wish to return to work. Generally this will not be a problem if you are returning to the same employer, however banks will often request a copy of your child’s birth certificate so that they can prove that this is the reason that you have been absent from the workforce.

Have you recently moved to Australia from overseas? Are you a returning ex pat? You can still get approval! If you are on an Employer Sponsored Visa, or are an Australian resident or citizen who is returning to work in the same field that you worked in overseas, you may still qualify for a loan.

Expert help is necessary to ensure approval. Brokers usually deal with many people who face similar employment situations to you. It is not uncommon for them to successfully approve those who are on probationary periods or have just started work. Get in touch with a mortgage broker today!

When one hears the word “capped”, it usually means that there is a limit or there is a certain boundary that cannot be crossed.   A capped loan similarly would mean that the interest rates have a limit set to them, and cannot go above a certain point.  This is of course limited to a certain period, which may be a number of years.

Due to the fact that a loan is capped, this simply means that no matter how high the interest rate goes up, the boundary is what would have been agreed upon in the capped loan contract.  However, when interest rates go down, the interest you pay can also go down.  This is because the cap is only applicable upwards and not downwards.

Currently, most capped home loans on offer have a 7.5% cap until 2012.  Any interest above 7.5% would not be allowable.    The lowest capped loan on offer is set at 7.49%, so one has to decide based on the product features which capped rate loan would be most suitable.  The consensus of the experts however seems to be that interest rates will stay low for the next few years.  These rates will then slowly go up once again as the effect of the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States slowly settles, and the real estate market begins to recover.

People who are on the fence can therefore, take a chance with this loan product.  It has the flexibility of a variable rate loan, and the cap is akin to a fixed rate loan where the rates are inflexible.

With the help of the experts on home loans, it would be much easier to gain access to a capped home loan.  They can also advise you if getting such a loan would be wise, and even offer different products which may compare in price to such a loan.  So do not hesitate to try and benefit from various home loan products, as they could save you a lot of time and effort.

Homes cost a lot of money.  Homes are usually the most expensive asset a person has, and prices of homes in Australia are going up constantly.  This makes it virtually impossible and very difficult to make the 5% to 10% deposit usually required by banks and lenders before loans can be granted.

Thankfully a number of banks and lenders offer no deposit home loans which can have you get loan approval even without a deposit.  Keep in mind that you would still need to have savings of at least six months of salary, these are called genuine savings loans.  Generally, without genuine savings such loans are not possible, unless you get a guarantor to support you in order to get a 100% loan without needing a deposit.

This means that home loans of this type can help a lot of prospective borrowers realize their dreams of buying their own home much faster as they would no longer require deposits.  The deposit requirements are often the reason that people are unable to make a loan, or are delayed in making their loan since it takes forever to save up for the deposit in the first place.

Several banks and lenders offer no deposit home loans at different rates.  This means it would be reasonable to first scout around for a good rate of interest.  Do not get the no deposit home loan out there.  The home loan experts who have access to several banks and lenders with different loan products can help a lot here.  They can show you loan products that have low interest rates and can help you with more choices and great access to no deposit loans.

In essence banks and lenders do require a deposit of around 20% before they approve loans of any kind.  This is to ensure that they are not exposed to too much risk, as no deposit loans is very risky business.

However, it is a fact that there are ways to get a 100% deposit home loan.  This does not mean that they come at the same price.  Because of the additional exposure taken on by banks there are usually additional costs to these no deposit loans, but several people are willing to pay these additional costs in order to get into the real estate market         earlier.

So what are the ways to get a no deposit mortgage.  There are a number of strategies that work.

One way is by paying LMI or what is commonly known as Lender’s Mortgage Insurance.  The payment of premiums for this type of insurance can eliminate the need for a 20% deposit.  It is a win-win situation as banks are protected from risk, while at the same time borrowers need not save 20% deposit and can get into the real estate market much earlier.

Another means of getting a no deposit home loan is by mortgaging another property.  The other property will serve as replacement for the deposit, and works in the same way as LMI in reducing the risk that the bank is exposed to.

Finally there is the guarantor.  The guarantor will pay where the borrower will be unable to pay.  With the help of a guarantor no deposit home loans are possible.

We at the home loan experts have access to all these types of no deposit mortgages.  We can help you select what we feel will work the best for you.  If you want to learn more about these types of loans, do not hesitate to contact us.  We will answer and provide you with quality information based on your enquiries.

Australians are known for their innovations and the desire to do things themselves.  This of course translates to many individuals who would like to build their homes to their specifications and with their own designs.  They likewise would want to handle the ordering of materials, the scheduling of construction, and other details on their own. These are the owner builders.  What these people do is build their own homes from scratch, without the help of construction companies.  Such a practice has become a trend, and a lot more people are choosing to go at it on their own, rather than rely on a construction company.

Where one is the owner builder, they can enjoy the satisfaction of building and renovating your own home.  The only limitations you have are your creativity and the amount of budget you have.  Aside from that you are totally in control.  Furthermore if you can manage the purchases of your materials well enough, and have sufficient reasonably priced suppliers, then you can keep building costs down much more than if you were relying on a contractor.  However, this can go both ways, as there is always a tendency to overspend when it comes to the materials of your home.

There are a lot of joys and advantages when one is an owner builder.  However, one of the main disadvantages is the difficulty of procuring a loan.  This is because banks and lenders are somewhat vary of providing financing to an owner builder.  There are more risks involved, and there is no guarantee that the project will be finished, hence the apprehensions of banks and lenders.

With the help and aid of the home loan experts, they can provide you with sufficient choices of providers who trust owner builders to accomplish the building of the property.  With their help it would be much easier to fulfill your dream of being an owner builder, and getting to set up and build your own home from the ground up.

Hard financial times often require smart solutions to problems that can be easily solved.  You may have taken a loan, and have defaulted on them because of your financial situation.  Possibly you could have lost your job, or been disabled and unable to work, or may have lost a great deal of money in your business.  Where you find it impossible to keep up with your repayments, because of your current situation, or see refinancing as a possible strategy to save some money then you should seriously think about refinancing your existing low doc loan.

Interest rates continually fluctuate and change.  Sometimes they are high, and at other times they are low.  This is exactly what may happen for low doc loans.  At the right time, and with the right circumstances one could possibly benefit from refinancing a low doc loan to achieve some savings due to lower interest rates.

The main factor in refinancing is choosing the bank or lender who should handle your balance transfer and refinancing.  This may be a difficult choice as there is an endless array of loan products and packages that can be developed.  However, with some advice from home loan experts, it would be possible to custom fit your refinancing to get the best savings on interest possible, or a mix of flexibility and lower interest rates.  This means it is highly likely for you to get a good deal on low doc loan refinancing.

Did you think that a home loan at 100% is no longer possible?  Well we would like to show you that it is still possible with a little help.

The usual percentage that home loans are granted often reach up to only 80% of the total property value.  Why do you think it is set up to a certain point?  This is because banks and lendersare trying to reduce their risks by not lending out too much to a particular person.  However, there is still a way to get a 100% home loan.  This is with the help of a guarantor.  The guarantor will assure the bank or lender that a borrower will be able to pay.  The guarantor then offers something as security.  The security may be in the form of cash, stocks, property or any other security deemed to be acceptable by the bank.

Often guarantors are family members, most common of whom are parents who would like to help out their children purchase their first home, or they can also be close relatives who wouldn’t mind helping their blood relations get a place of their own.

With the help of these guarantors a 100% home loan is now possible.  In addition it is also a nice way of avoiding payment of Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) which is required for loans of 80% or more of the value of the entire property.  These guarantees can also help avoid the unreasonable at interest rates for all loans above 80%.

These multiple benefits plus the fact that you are able to get a larger loan should encourage family members to help one another get a 100% family guarantee.  The entire family unit can save a lot by avoiding high interest rates, and unnecessary premium payments.

The home loan experts will help and show you the best way to capitalise on the use of a family guarantee.  They have access to the banks and lenders who will most likely be willing to grant these types and forms of loans.

Taxes can become costly and they continue to pile up every day.  This is why people try to come up with ways to avoid paying taxes legally everyday.  One way is by letting your employer directly pay your mortgage for you.  Where your employer allows you to salary sacrifice by doing this, you are going to pay less taxes as your gross income is going to be lower.  This is because the money that you ask your employer to directly pay to your mortgage repayments will no longer be considered as part of your income.

However there can be a problem with this, as although you will be paying less taxes, your employer will still be required to pay fringe benefits tax, unless your employer is considered to be an exempt body.  For this reason it may be difficult for you to convince your employer to allow you to salary sacrifice when they will end up spending more.

This should not be the case if your employer is an exempt entity as they do not need to pay the taxes on your fringe benefits.

There are also other ways to use this as a tax shield.  One way is through superannuation.  This means that your salary is reduced by the amount you would like, and it is instead paid to the superfund in anticipation of your retirement.  This effectively reduces your gross income by the amount that you put into the superfund, and assures you of a little more to spend when you retire.

Another way to use this salary sacrifice is to ask for a certain benefit instead of asking for cash.  Due to this fact it is possible to ask for a car to drive, or a computer to use, or various other items you would like to purchase on a regular basis in exchange for a lower gross salary.  However, employers are careful about these types of salary sacrifice as they may be made liable for additional taxes that could cost them more in the long run.

Those with expertise in home loans can show you the correct steps to be taken in order to use this as a salary sacrifice mortgage in order to help you better afford your home.  They can show you the best way to convince your employer to make the home loan repayments and come up with a win-win situation for both parties.